Apple’s new music streaming service is one step closer to reality.

According to a report posted by CNET on Friday, Apple and Sony/ATV Music Publishing finally reached an agreement, marking a triumphant, eleventh hour conclusion for Apple in its negotiations with the major record labels. From here on out, it appears Apple will have smooth sailing in its efforts to launch their music streaming service, reportedly called iRadio (and with a model similar to that of Pandora), later this summer.

The news comes at the perfect moment for Apple, who will commence their annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference tomorrow in San Francisco. The WWDC generally plays host to the company’s major announcements and new product roll-outs, but it appeared until Friday that Apple would need to hold off on making a major statement about iRadio.

The sticking point was the deal with Sony, as Apple had already reached agreements with both Universal Music and Warner Music Group. Just last week, Sony and Apple were contending over per-stream royalty rates, specifically in relation to songs that listeners skip. However, it appears that the two entities were able to come to a mutually-beneficial agreement on that subject, and Apple should now have little trouble in securing smaller labels and independent artists to round out its library of musical titles.

This particular disagreement between Apple and Sony over streaming royalties is not the first time the two companies have clashed. Just last year, Martin Bandier, the CEO of Sony Music, withdrew the digital rights of his company’s music catalog from performance rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI, believing he could secure bigger royalty rates through auxiliary deals. One of those prospective deals was an earlier contract proposal from Apple, who have been working toward launching a music streaming service for quite some time now. However, the numbers Bandier was hearing from Apple weren’t music to his ears, and Sony’s hold-out status ultimately tabled the iRadio launch for a little longer.

But Apple is back now, and based on the deal reached with Sony on Friday, more willing to negotiate than they were a year ago. According to CNET, Apple’s new contracts with the major labels have them paying more than twice the advertising revenue paid by Pandora, but those agreements represent more than just pushy label execs trying to grab a few extra bucks. In the past year or two, with services like Spotify and Rdio, streaming music has shifted from an enjoyable alternative to purchased media to a full-fledged replacement of the ownership model. And Apple, though its iTunes store is still doing just fine, senses that it needs to break into the streaming game soon, or risk being left behind.