iTunes Radio Set To Launch September 18

It has been a decade since Apple transformed the music industry with the iTunes store. This time around, Apple isn't revolutionizing anything, but instead entering into the ring of online streaming that has existed for a while now.

The question is: Will Apple be able to gain a strong market position in the streaming game with services such as Pandora leading the pack in popularity as well as mobile advertising revenue?

Clark Fredricksen, a vice president at research firm eMarketer told NYTimes.com, "It's tough to see [Pandora] getting killed."

iTunes radio is rumored to be very similar to Pandora, but rather than pushing ads alone, the service will lead users to "Buy" buttons via iTunes.

"Everybody agrees it's going to be good for the business," Jim Urie, president of distribution for Universal Music, told Rolling Stone.

These digital purchases are sure to appease record companies. According to NYTimes.com, one 99-cent download can be worth more than hundreds of streams. Apple will pay record labels $0.13 per stream on iTunes Radio during year one and will also pay them a percentage of advertising revenue.

Tom Corson, president and chief operating officer of RCA Records (Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha and Pink), told Rolling Stone in August, "An arms race is afoot" among apps such as iTunes Radio, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Songza, iHeartRadio and others.

Time will tell which companies will flourish or die as the market grows.

Besides the iTunes Radio announcement, Apple also revealed yesterday the arrival of two know phones, the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C. Features on these new devices include a fingerprint reader called Touch ID, a motion monitor, an improved camera and new phone colors.

What do you think of iTunes Radio? Will you switch services? Let us know in the comments section below!