30% of iPhone Users Leaning Toward Using iTunes Match

[ten-oak-druid]

I will use it under one condition: that my edited tags are included. I spend time making sure music added to my library has the correct date, etc. I hate buying an artists collection from a decade gone by with the date on all the songs being the original CD release of last year for instance. I also add group identifiers and/or comments for smart lists. Holiday music may be jazz but be in the "Yule" group.

I'll hate it if I download to another device from icloud and find that all my work is replaced.

 

[LastLine]

I don't think we 100% know for sure, but no other music on iTunes has DRM now. I find it unlikely they'd bring it back after all the trouble they went to to get rid of it.

Yeah that was my thought, but as an essentially subscription based service...I dunno - seems odd. Greaet though it that's the case!

 

[Razeus]

first part is yes that is the idea. download a 256k track to your device.

second part is smart for Apple. it helps them sell devices. if you could download via web, then you could use Android. Google/Amazon have this as they want customers. Apple does this for expanded use of iOS devices....and money from that.

Well if they are letting me download the 256k file, how does one manage the space on the device or hard drive?

Basically they're are saying, "Ok, you have these songs on your hard drive. We've scanned them and put them in the cloud. Oh, you want to listen to that song but forgot to put it on your iPhone? No problem, here you go."

What if my iPhone space is maxed?

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Well if they are letting me download the 256k file, how does one manage the space on the device or hard drive?

Basically they're are saying, "Ok, you have these songs on your hard drive. We've scanned them and put them in the cloud. Oh, you want to listen to that song but forgot to put it on your iPhone? No problem, here you go."

What if my iPhone space is maxed?

You can delete current songs you don't listen to. They will be on the cloud for later download if you wish.

That is what the icloud is all about: overcoming the slow pace of SSD development for low price and high capacity. It is really in place for iOS devices and the Air primarily.

For my part, I like that any song purchased can be downloaded again if lost. Also if I purchase a song on the computer I can download to the iOS device if I am out and haven't synced yet.

 

[bmturney]

How can you tell until it actually comes out...

I think this is very tough to gauge right now and would put VERY little weight behind this survey... for one, you gauging responses from a very limited base... I can tell you that a very large portion of iPhone users do not even really understand what iTunes Match really is at this point. I can tell you my wife, kids, mom, mother-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-laws, brothers-in-law... all heavy iPhone, iPad users... but none of them could tell you what iTunes Match is right now, and only a couple of them would probably be able to tell you that they have heard of the iCloud service...

The vast majority of iPhone/iPad users are not geek-heads that hang on every announcement out of the valley... they are just very happy patrons... because as Steve says... "It just works..." When these services start coming online in mass... and there is even more buzz about it... and even more people are using it and talking about it... I think you will see these numbers go even higher... as long as "it just works..."

 

[milo]

Y'know there's something I haven't clicked on this iTunes match yet.

If I have a catalogue of, say, 1000 mp3's that I ripped myself, pay the $25 for a year of match, what happens next?

I presume I download the matched songs, now do we know if these are DRM protected (to prevent me potentially pirating thousands of albums over a year, matching them all and getting my music illegally, but cheap) or do they come DRM free so once I've used match they're mine to keep?

DRM free.

 

[OptyCT]

I think you have a little confusion too. 24.99 doesn't mean your entire itunes library is in the iCloud. Granted - many people have less than say, 25,000 songs. But if you have a HUGE collection of music - you'll exceed the 5gig allowance (remember that itunes purchased music does not go towards that 5 gig allotment). That being said - 24.99 has little to nothing to do with actual storage. Two different things altogether.

iCloud - 5 gigs (plus syncing of photos, contacts, purchased music, etc) is free
24.99 is for the MATCH service only.

It's interesting that you took some creative license to cut my quote where you did, because the next line said "Your music library isn't being stored in the cloud, but is rather being scanned and matched against the iTunes library of 18 million songs." Your music that is "matched" in iTunes doesn't go against the iCloud storage limits. Mainly, because your music is not being uploaded and stored in the iCloud. Let's say, as an example, that I have "Tighten Up" by the Black Keys in my iTunes library on my computer. I then pay $24.99/year and sign up for the iTunes Match service. My iTunes library is then scanned and matched (not uploaded), "Tighten Up" included. This "match" basically gives me access to Apple's 256 Kbps version of "Tighten Up" on their server. The only way any song in my library would go against the iCloud storage limit is if it wasn't available in iTunes' 18 million song library.

 

[Razeus]

You can delete current songs you don't listen to. They will be on the cloud for later download if you wish.

That is what the icloud is all about: overcoming the slow pace of SSD development for low price and high capacity. It is really in place for iOS devices and the Air primarily.

For my part, I like that any song purchased can be downloaded again if lost. Also if I purchase a song on the computer I can download to the iOS device if I am out and haven't synced yet.

I hear ya. Can't wait to try it out. I'm still going to use Google Music as well so I have a desktop option. I'm loving their beta. The interface is so elegant and clean.

 

[Razeus]

It's interesting that you took some creative license to cut my quote where you did, because the next line said "Your music library isn't being stored in the cloud, but is rather being scanned and matched against the iTunes library of 18 million songs." Your music that is "matched" in iTunes doesn't go against the iCloud storage limits. Mainly, because your music is not being uploaded and stored in the iCloud. Let's say, as an example, that I have "Tighten Up" by the Black Keys in my iTunes library on my computer. I then pay $24.99/year and sign up for the iTunes Match service. My iTunes library is then scanned and matched (not uploaded), "Tighten Up" included. This "match" basically gives me access to Apple's 256 Kbps version of "Tighten Up" on their server. The only way any song in my library would go against the iCloud storage limit is if it wasn't available in iTunes' 18 million song library.

You'll still need to download "Tighten Up" to the iDevice you want to listen to.

 

[jonnysods]

I'm one of them!

 

[OptyCT]

You'll still need to download "Tighten Up" to the iDevice you want to listen to.

Correct.

 

[theLimit]

Day one for me. My library is well over 300GB of mainly CDs ripped to ALAC. Only about 10,000 of those songs are available on iTS, but it's worth the price to me to not have to keep a separate lossy library for the iPhones and iPods in the house.

 

[milo]

My specific questions, reposted from the tail end of a previous thread that had died out...

I'm very curious about more of the functionality specifics. Will cloud copies of a user's song grab the star ratings from the library? Update play counts over the cloud? What about customized metadata? Any lyrics that have been added to the files? Syncing and removing files based on playlists as well as live updating to smart playlists?

I know the files themselves will be the same for everyone but it seems like things like stars, play count, and even metadata are tiny compared to the audio and it seems like it should be possible to keep those synced as well, especially in a system that also does cloud syncing of documents and other info. I'm not getting my hopes up for the first version, but I hope apple is thinking about these sorts of things and has them on their to-do list.

Also, how will the local upgrade to files work? I assume it will add the new files instead of replacing them? Will there be an option to easily remove the old ones once the new ones are there and it's confirmed they are working OK? Options to upgrade the whole library or specific parts easily, including things like only upgrading files that are below a given bitrate? An easy way to swap in the new files to playlists, and handling play count and star ratings? Tags - doing it over the cloud is more ambitious but it seems like it shouldn't be a big deal to copy over customized tags (including things like lyrics) on the main library.

And with the 25k limit, will users who have more than that have the ability to choose which are included and which not (including the ability to easily remove songs uploaded to that 5 gigs)? I have lots of custom stuff that frankly I don't WANT uploaded and would never need to get from the cloud.

I think the idea has great potential and for me it's almost worth doing just for the opportunity to upgrade old files, mobile or no mobile. But hopefully apple will really nail the functionality of the service, for me that's what will make the difference between using it or not.

 

[Karnivore]

A more appropriate headline should be "Over half of iPhone Users Will Not Be Using iTunes Match".

Aren't statistics versatile?

 

[Deflorator]

iTunes

Cool, but there are countries in EU with no music\movies buyable in iTunes store, so...

 

[NebulaClash]

A more appropriate headline should be "Over half of iPhone Users Will Not Be Using iTunes Match".

Aren't statistics versatile?

Not quite that versatile. The actually thing you could say if you wanted to reverse it would be: "Over half of iPhone Users State They Will Not Be Using iTunes Match."

What they say in a survey is not what they will be doing, say, a year from now once they see what iTunes Match does (or does not do).

 

[milo]

From what I can understand, this doesn't give you live access to your playlists etc.

Do we know either way? Seems like it wouldn't be that hard for Apple to store all playlists whether the files are on the device or not - whether they will in the initial release remains to be seen (and I'm not getting my hopes up), but is there any evidence either way?

I have 500-600 ripped CDs available on all my devices. It is called syncing. Rotate and reuse.

But that doesn't let you sync away from home.

I think you have a little confusion too. 24.99 doesn't mean your entire itunes library is in the iCloud. Granted - many people have less than say, 25,000 songs. But if you have a HUGE collection of music - you'll exceed the 5gig allowance (remember that itunes purchased music does not go towards that 5 gig allotment).

Just to be clear, if you're subscribing to Match, any songs matched don't count against the 5 gig limit, it's only songs that can't be matched because they aren't available in the store. With 18 million songs there, most people aren't going to use up that space with unmatched music.

What if my iPhone space is maxed?

Delete songs you no longer need on there. Plus, with a service like this there's less need to put so much on there in the first place.

 

[samcraig]

Not quite that versatile. The actually thing you could say if you wanted to reverse it would be: "Over half of iPhone Users State They Will Not Be Using iTunes Match."

What they say in a survey is not what they will be doing, say, a year from now once they see what iTunes Match does (or does not do).

Exactly my point earlier (and how often do we agree, NebulaClash? ) First year adoption rate is important. But more so is year 2 retention.

 

[NebulaClash]

how often do we agree, NebulaClash?

Not often, but it's nice when it happens. Cheers.

 

[wordoflife]

Thanks for chopping up my words ...

I can't definitively say that iTunes Match is not streaming ... but from what I understand, I don't think you need an internet connection in order to access your music, which is what streaming is essentially. I would be very surprised if this was the case, since I'd like to listen to my music regardless of where I am.

Streaming is if you are listening to a song downloading as it plays and go through a tunnel, you lost the song. Downloading is a similar concept as it can play while buffering but you could in theory download a few songs at a starbucks wifi near teh train station and then take the train through teh tunnel and still listen to those new songs. with streaming you don't get the same service.

Well my point is, if I have to use my data connection to download or stream my music, it's kind of pointless to me considering the data rates these days. Based on that alone, i can safely make my decision as to whether or not I need this service. I see how it can be useful for others though.

 

[newagemac]

Between my wife and I we have a bunch of DRM laden songs as well as CDs that were ripped to 128kbps. We also have a bunch of 256 kbps mp3 rather than the higher quality 256kbps AAC files available with iTunes Match. We are definitely going to do the iTunes match for one year and get all of it converted to non DRM 256kbps AAC goodness.

Since in the keynote they specifically pointed out that it was DRM free, we should be able to drop the service after the first year once we download the new files. If they do eventually add more services to it, we may keep it.

 

[liquidsuns]

The value I see in this is for people that don't want a pc or laptop anymore. I'm not fully aware of how it works exactly, but I think there are two possible ways; you pay $25 dollars and all your ripped songs are now iTunes songs. You can download them on any iOS device, delete them, and download them again and again. And these songs are like this forever. If you get more ripped songs the next year, you have to pay again to get them as iTunes songs. The second way would be that you have to keep paying $25 dollars a year to keep your ripped songs as iTunes songs. If you don't pay and you delete them from your iOS device and don't have a PC anymore, then they are just gone and you can't redownload them.

So obviously this service, which ever way it works, is for people that don't want a PC at all anymore and want all their songs that they ripped back when they had a PC to be on the iTunes "cloud" so they can delete and download as necessary.

I'm probably going to use this service because, come iOS 5, I am getting rid of my iMac and never owning a traditional PC again.

 

[m828s]

Would I LIKE to use iMatch? Absolutely.

Am I GOING to use iMatch? Definitely not, given my current data plan.

 

[FX4568]

Idk about iTunes match
For me I have less than 5.00GB of Music, and thus, I would rather use iCloud and just upload everything (contacts, music, photos and other stuff) without using iTunes match.

I still dont understand fully, but if its a good service I know people will pay $25 a year. I mean... its $2 a month. thats probably less than the change you loose weekly.

 

[liquidsuns]

Would I LIKE to use iMatch? Absolutely.

Am I GOING to use iMatch? Definitely not, given my current data plan.

By saying this, I don't think you understand what iMatch is for. It's not streaming. If you have an iOS device and purchase a song on iTunes, then delete it (which you can do iOS 5) and can then go to the Purchased tab, see that song listed there and redownload it. Or if you have two iOS device and buy a song on one, you can go to the Purchased tab on the other device, see it there and download it. This feature is already available, though you can't delete from the device itself. But you can get a feel for how it will work.

What iMatch does is take all your ripped songs and give them this same functionality. Treating the ripped songs as though you had bought them from iTunes and allowing you to download and delete from iOS devices (and PCs) as often as you like.

Mostly, this is for people that don't want a PC anymore and need to have their ripped songs treated as iTunes songs, so they can have this functionality.