Look Out, Pandora, Here Comes Apple

It looks like Apple will try to muscle in on the digital music niche carved out by Pandora. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has begun talks to create a rival radio service similar to Pandora's, in which listeners punch in the name of an artist they like and then get selections from that singer and similar ones. It's free, but ads appear. The company has begun negotiating with record companies on licensing, unlike the still-in-the-red Pandora, which pays royalty fees set by the government. If it flies, the launch is still months away. Read the full scoop from the Journal here. (More Pandora stories.)