Only Apple could excite this much buzz about a digital music locker service. At least that seems to be what it may or may not reveal at its developer conference beginning on June 6. Various reports have three of the big four record labels signing licensing agreements with Apple. Neither Amazon nor Google did any additional licensing behind their cloud-based lockers, which means users have to manually upload their collections. Presumably, Apple could use the “scan and match” approach, which would reduce storage needs and user hassles. I’m not sure how it would account for songs users had ripped from friends’ CDs – that’s what the labels are after – and today iTunes can’t recognize and apply cover art to many of my own perfectly legal MP3s (usually if they’re not in the iTunes store or out of print). But surely a digital locker is only one small feature of a useful digital music service. What about discovery? Risking broken record metaphors, I’ll say it again: there will be no saving the industry without disruptive licensing flexibility from rights owners.