Apple may already be the big player in online music sales, but it currently has no dog in the music streaming hunt, with the likes of Spotify and Pandora ruling the fledgling market. That doesn’t mean that the Apple juggernaut isn’t looking to crawl its way into the space that has already proven unpopular with music labels.

The beginning of any new year always brings with it a renewed sense of purpose in the technology industry, with excitable consumers impatiently waiting to see what their favorite companies will release into the wild. As always, we are expecting a lot of speculation and analysis to be lavished on Apple’s Cupertino campus once again this year, and although the obligatory iPhone and iPad refresh will come at some point, speculation surrounding Apple’s potential release of a streaming music type service is mounting.