Reports have surfaced that Apple is reportedly planning to air locally targeted ads on iTunes Radio and promote those ads on its iAd network.
AppleInsider quotes The Information, which reports the changes “are expected to strike at the heart of Pandora’s advertising business.”
Apple debuted NPR’s talk channel on iTunes Radio earlier year, we’ve reported.
Now since its acquisition of Beats Music, the tech giant has reportedly reached out to radio groups like Cumulus Media to bring spoken word content to iTunes Radio, according to the account.
Beats Music is a subscription-based cross-platform service available on Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Phone, in addition to Apple’s iOS.
Apple’s reported moves come as Amazon is rumored to plan launching its own free streaming service.
Apple’s rumored expansion for its iAd platform on iTunes Radio and the purchase of Beats come as sales of traditional music through the iTunes Store have been declining, according to the account, with Apple looking to offset that lost revenue with new ways to monetize its music licenses.