iTunes Match: $24.99/Year, Matches Ripped Tunes, Offers Them In The Cloud

Rodimus Prime said:

Cap.

I honestly call this DOA because we have to pay a $25 a year label tax. Compared to Google Music same 20k worth of songs is 100% free. Apple we have to pay $25 a year to have access to the same songs we already paid for.

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Google Music isn't going to be free indefinitely.

RafaelT said:

This is an awesome deal for those with ripped music. I guess those rumors about Apple paying the record companies a lot of money were true.

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Not really. I doubt very much you'll get a HD full of m4a files out of it. You'll be able to stream them over your router for as long as you pay the subscription though.

So 25 bucks a year to legitimize several years' worth of downloaded music? Sign me up

If i could replace my pirated stuff on my Mac, I'd do it. I don't really care about stuff in the cloud.

US only? Apple doesn't seem to care much about other countries if they don't even mention such relevant facts in their keynote.

I'm assuming the iTunes Matched songs only stay in the cloud library til the subscription is over, no way they'd make it a permanent thing.

Also, I'll assume my pirated music will work too.

So, those with huge libraries that were acquired in a variety of means....can have Apple scan and match...pay $25 bucks a year...and now, their libraries are "blessed" with legitimacy?

Helluva deal.

I wonder... can this be viewed as a one-time upgrade fee? In other words, will I lose access to my matched songs if I don't renew ever year?

sishaw said:

Google Music isn't going to be free indefinitely.

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my guess is it will be with the ablity to purchase more space later on.
Also knowing Google the beta will be years long. Just like Gmail was in "beta" for years. Right now Google Music shows a fair number of beta bugs but for the most part works great.

can anyone answer the following.

when the subscription is up, do we still have access to the matched music locally? just not over the cloud?

when is this service available?

thats really strange; everyone can now share ripped files and can legalize it afterwards ... fell a bit stupid to bought all songs over the years via iTunes ...

I hope US only is just for now, this is one of the few iTunes features I'd pay up for, and they're not letting me!

Rodimus Prime said:

Cap.

I honestly call this DOA because we have to pay a $25 a year label tax. Compared to Google Music same 20k worth of songs is 100% free. Apple we have to pay $25 a year to have access to the same songs we already paid for.

Click to expand...

I disagree. This will be huge, no one else can come close and for $25.00 per year it is kinda like an tax paid to the labels. Let's face it only about 1 in 40 songs on the typical iTunes library was paid for.

satirev said:

can anyone answer the following.

when the subscription is up, do we still have access to the matched music locally? just not over the cloud?

when is this service available?

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Your local music isn't changed, so yes you would still have access.

My questions.

I assume you can get your ripped music in the cloud but it wouldn't replace the stuff on your iTunes library without you manually doing it.

I have plenty of high bit rate MP3s that I ripped from FLAC & EAC, I wouldn't want the Cloud service to just overwrite my stuff.

But how you get it on your main iTunes library is a mystery.
Maybe they won't let you but why do they specifically mention DRM free?

Also, does it work with ITunes on PC/Macs?
Example, If I am at work, and I fire iTunes up on my PC desktop and my MacBook Pro, will I see all my music available to me?
That would be a winner for me.

why is it per year?
once you upload/match you ripped library, wouldn't it become the same as a purchased library?
my library has about 5000 songs, all legal but mostly from my CD collection. once i transfer it to the cloud, and i don't get an new music on CD next year, would i still have to pay the 25$?

Really was hoping for some sort of pure streaming with their catalog.

At 25$ I will give it a try. I have to many apple devices to not give it a try!

Did I miss something? I didn't hear anything about accessing our Cloud iTunes Library with our iDevices or accessing it online, sort of like Lala but with an app on our iDevices for direct streaming.

MacRumors said:

...As far as music you've ripped yourself, iTunes has 18 million songs in the music store and Apple will use a feature called iTunes Match to give you the same benefits on songs you've ripped, as songs you've purchased. Library is scanned and matched and any songs that remain can be uploaded. Songs that are matched are upgraded to 256KBps, AAC, DRM-free, with all the benefits above, including push syncing and all the rest.

It's $24.99 per year, even for "20,000 songs."

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Well this sounds pretty good...I have 22,000 songs. However, many of mine are remixes that are definitely not on iTunes. So I would definitely have to think about what's available before I sign up...Apple should allow iTunes to scan all my stuff beforehand and give me a report of what's missing before I fork over the $25.

But I would really like to see the proof that the iCloud can truly stream over cell phone technology for say 60+ minutes at a time. For example, I would like to plop my iPhone into a boombox at a friend's pool and listen to tunes over the cell network for several hours.

Also, how will the cell carriers like folks streaming 256k mp3s over their network for use cases like mine? Data plans gonna change soon?

ChristianJapan said:

thats really strange; everyone can now share ripped files and can legalize it afterwards ... fell a bit stupid to bought all songs over the years via iTunes ...

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It's really amazing how people can find something to complain about.

If it makes you feel better, look at it this way: All those iTunes you bought gave Apple the profits to have the cash to make the deal with the record companies and music publishers to create the iTunes Match service and bring it home for only $25/year.

This is pretty nice but still looking forward to the day when memory is so cheap I could afford an iPhone and iPad with 128gb of memory (true, they have to make those first) so I could just listen to any of my 80gb of music instantly.

Rodimus Prime said:

Cap.

I honestly call this DOA because we have to pay a $25 a year label tax. Compared to Google Music same 20k worth of songs is 100% free. Apple we have to pay $25 a year to have access to the same songs we already paid for.

Click to expand...

And as for Google Music:

Google Music Info Page said:

Music Beta is available free for a limited time.

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I doubt it will remain free based on what the Google Music page shows.

ericinboston said:

Well this sounds pretty good...I have 22,000 songs. However, many of mine are remixes that are definitely not on iTunes. So I would definitely have to think about what's available before I sign up...Apple should allow iTunes to scan all my stuff beforehand and give me a report of what's missing before I fork over the $25.

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That is a good idea, seriously! Submit it to Apple! Or,maybe it will work this way, that would be nice.

ericinboston said:

Well this sounds pretty good...I have 22,000 songs. However, many of mine are remixes that are definitely not on iTunes. So I would definitely have to think about what's available before I sign up...Apple should allow iTunes to scan all my stuff beforehand and give me a report of what's missing before I fork over the $25.

Click to expand...

If they don't have your song you can upload yours and they'll store it.