Technology giant Apple is in discussions with record labels to improve the quality of the song files they sell, CNN reported quoting executives involved in the talk.

This decision will enable online music stores to offer songs that sound truer to their original recordings, possibly at a premium price.

In an interview with CNN, Jimmy lovine, chairman of record label Interscope-Geffen-A&M which falls under Universal Music Group, said his parent company was working with Apple and other digital music services to offer 24 bit formats, requiring Apple to retool its mobile devices.

Some of their electronic devices are going to be changed as well, Iovine said. [We] have a long road ahead of us, he is quoted as saying.

Professional music producers generally capture studio recordings in a 24-bit, high-fidelity audio format. Before the originals, or masters in industry parlance, are pressed onto CDs or distributed to digital sellers like Apple's iTunes, they're downgraded to 16-bit files.

To make the jump to higher-quality music attractive for Apple, the Cupertino, California, company would have to retool future versions of iPods and iPhones so they can play higher-quality files, report added.

From there, the audio can be compressed further in order to minimize the time the music will take to download or to allow it to be streamed on-the-fly over the internet.

ITunes controls about 66 percent of the paid digital-download market, followed by Amazon MP3 at 13 percent, according to research from the NPD Group.

In recent months some musicians have offered lossless downloads of their work.

Last week, Radiohead released its latest album The King Of Limbs for download online. Fans can either pay £6 for the MP3 version, or £9 for a lossless file.

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