Apple isn't planning to replace its traditional music download model with a streaming model anytime soon—or at least that's what the company has reportedly been telling the music labels. Several unnamed music industry executives told the Financial Times that Apple has "clarified" its plans to use the cloud for music purposes, emphasizing that the company doesn't want to undermine its current dominant position in the music download market.

According to the execs speaking to FT, Apple likened its long-rumored plans to bring iTunes to the cloud as "insurance." Instead of cannibalizing its own wildly successful download service by introducing a streaming equivalent, Apple said it plans to make it possible for existing iTunes users to store their music remotely. This would enable them to access their libraries from various devices without having to sync via USB.

Incidentally, this model is exactly what streaming music service Lala began offering in 2007: a way for users to scan their hard drives for music and upload songs to a "digital locker" which then became available from any device the user had that could access his or her Lala account. Lala later began selling MP3s and eventually morphed into the streaming music service that we all remember before Apple bought the company in 2009.

Apple's purchase of Lala sparked speculation over the company's plans for Lala's talent and technology. The immediate conclusion was that Apple planned to rework Lala into its own online streaming service that would cost $10 or $15 per month. Other rumors sprouted up, though, saying that users would be able to stream their iTunes downloads to anywhere they're logged in, possibly including the iPhone and other devices. The service was rumored to be called "iTunes Replay."

Apple's recent comments to the music industry certainly jibe more with the iTunes Replay rumors than a Lala makeover. Allowing users to remotely access their regular downloads from any device would make just about everyone happy. And, as the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, it's possible that Apple plans to roll this service into a revamped version of MobileMe.

(That MobileMe makeover is expected to bring more than just streaming iTunes libraries, too—it's also rumored to combine its current e-mail, contacts, and calendar syncing with new social media services, making it a sort of Facebook, Foursquare, Ustream, and Ping mashup.)

Meanwhile, Google is also getting ready to launch a music service alongside Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), according to Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha. Jha said during last week's Mobile World Conference that a music service would soon become a part of Google's offerings. Like Apple, Google has long been rumored to be working on a streaming music service. But—again, like Apple—more recent rumors have pegged Google as preparing a combination of digital track downloads plus a digital locker streaming service.

Both Apple and Google are expected to introduce their respective music services sooner than later—some hope that Apple will discuss the service during its March 2 media event, but it's more likely that Apple will wait until later in the year to make such an announcement.