Rumors of Sony readying a downloadable music service have been “floating” around the internet for some time. Things got even juicier when CNET learned that Sony was beginning discussions with major recording companies about bringing music to the PlayStation Network.

From CNET:

Sony has spoken with some of the major recording companies about providing music for the PlayStation Portable, music industry sources told CNET News. The sources said the talks are only preliminary and no deals have been struck. But apparently, Sony is considering offering music on the PlayStation Network, the company’s nascent multiplayer gaming and digital download service. Such a move could place the PSP in direct competition with other multiuse music players, most notably the iPhone. Spokespeople from Sony and the big recording labels declined to comment for this story.

We have come across some information that might bring a name to the service…

A tipster who asked to remain anonymous has said that PlayStation Cloud will be Sony’s new music service. Since this information comes from anonymous tipster, take the following with a grain of salt. Even though we can’t confirm the validity of this assertion, we decided to look into the suggestion that PlayStation Cloud could be PlayStation’s version of iTunes. We found plenty of evidence to support this claim…

During our research we found literally dozens of instances of the term “Cloud” relating to a music service. Below we have listed a few that stand out…

Guardian.co.uk talks of streaming music via a cloud-computing-music service:

But with computing becoming increasingly cloud-based, it no longer seems necessary to download or store music. As network connectivity becomes pervasive, the possibility of having every piece of commercially available music at our fingertips, instantly playable via our next-generation portable music players, mobile phones and Wi-Fi home entertainment systems comes closer. So will downloading digital music to an iPod soon seem as archaic as taping the Top 40 on to a C90?

Future of Music Coalition, talking of “Cloud” music becoming a reality:

The idea of being able to listen to practically everything you’d ever want to whenever you want to isn’t new. But American consumers haven’t fully embraced such services, even with Rhapsody, Napster, etc. offering some version of subscription-based access. Will Spotify be the model that makes “the cloud” click? Only time will tell. . .

Eliot Van Buskirk of Wired.com talks of Apple preparing a cloud-based service:

Want to run an advanced music service with robust streaming to iPhone descendants? You might want to have the guy behind some of the latest advances in server design on board. At the other end of any sort of cloud-based music service are the microprocessor chips in laptops and portables. Apple paid $278 million for the chipmaker PA Semi earlier this year, and Papermaster (no photo available) is a chip design expert with 26 years of experience at IBM. In addition to helping Apple revamp its servers, Papermaster could help Apple design a server-to-microprocessor architecture to run a connected music service and other applications that access the cloud.

Even the original PS Cloud trademark backs up the idea of a cloud-music service:

CLOUD COMPUTING DATA CENTER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE; COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE FOR CONNECTING INTERNET RADIO; COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE FOR CONNECTING INTERNET RADIO FOR HAND-HELD GAMES WITH LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS; DOWNLOADABLE MUSIC FILES VIA THE INTERNET AUTOMATIC TRANSFER OF DIGITAL DATA BY TELECOMMUNICATIONS; BROADCASTING SERVICES AND PROVISION OF TELECOMMUNICATION ACCESS TO AUDIO CONTENT PROVIDED VIA AN ON-DEMAND SERVICE VIA THE INTERNET; BROADCASTING SERVICES AND PROVISION OF TELECOMMUNICATION ACCESS TO AUDIO CONTENT PROVIDED VIA THE INTERNET STREAMING OF AUDIO SIGNALS FEATURING MUSIC VIA THE INTERNET; PRODUCTION OF INTERNET RADIO PROGRAMS; PRODUCTION OF RADIO PROGRAMS

So, although we can’t confirm if this information is correct, there is certainly enough evidence to suggest that PlayStation Cloud could very well be a music streaming service for the PlayStation Network.