WHAT’S IN YOUR iPOD? HOW ABOUT THE BIG FIVE?

Apple founder and head Steve Jobs has quietly negotiated deals with all Big Five label groups to license an exhaustive selection of current music and catalog for a new subscription service, informed sources say.

Jobs is said to have sealed most of the agreements in head-to-head meetings with label-group rulers.

The service, sources believe, would most likely be geared toward users of Apple’s popular iPod MP3 player and iTunes software, and could be modeled on the service the company has offered for recorded books and other spoken-word materials via audible.com.

Insiders also assert that tracks would be sold for 99 cents apiece, a popular price point with online services and content holders at the moment.

The ubiquity of the iPod, which was marketed aggressively to the biz in Grammy swag bags and through clever, celebrity-based ad campaigns, has made it more attractive to the biz than any other MP3 player.

Observers believe Apple’s interest in the service has more to do with selling hardware (iPods, iMacs, iBooks, etc.) than music.

Some have further speculated that Apple’s service will feature Digital Rights Management (DRM) software to control what subscribers can do with the music.

No one at any of the companies involved in these deals would comment on the record for this story.

The Apple service could be launched next month, the Los Angeles Times reported this morning.