Edible Apple

Apple is reportedly engaged in negotiations with record labels in an effort to give iTunes users the ability to store backups of their purchases in the cloud and dowload them again should the originals get lost or destroyed. Bloomberg notes that Apple is currently in talks with Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, and EMI Group.

The deal, according to three people reportedly familiar with the negotiations, would also let users download purchased songs to any iOS device hooked up to the same iTunes account. “The move,” the report continues, “would be a step closer to universal access to content centrally stored on the Internet.”

The report is similar to a story that arose last week detailing Apple’s plans to use the Cloud as a backup service for iTunes customers. Perhaps this is what Apple’s huge Data Center in North Carolina is all about. It’s also been rumored that this supposed cloud-storage of iTunes purchases will be part of an upcoming MobileMe upgrade.

Meanwhile, others have speculated that Apple’s MobileMe strategy will not employ streaming from the cloud, but rather from a user’s own computer. Either way, Apple seems to be up to something.