You can beat them, but no one has managed to do it yet. iTunes match certainly hasn't done it.
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Amazon Cloud Player Upgraded with Scan and Match, 256 Kbps Audio
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You can beat them, but no one has managed to do it yet. iTunes match certainly hasn't done it.
iTunes match is notorious for being extremely buggy with few if any bug fixes over the last nine months.
Obviously the big question here is how well the matching works as well as how it works overall. But no doubt that at least in terms of features this has a number of big advantages over Match.
Apple needs to get their act together or in the fall when those first Match accounts are up for renewal after a year, they're going to lose a LOT of subscribers.
Obviously the big question here is how well the matching works as well as how it works overall. But no doubt that at least in terms of features this has a number of big advantages over Match.
Apple needs to get their act together or in the fall when those first Match accounts are up for renewal after a year, they're going to lose a LOT of subscribers.
Cloud Player *was* unlimited, at least for some
Hate to be blunt, but this reply is simply wrong on all counts, as well as being a bit rude for no apparent reason.
I did have unlimited storage - well over 10,000 songs that I uploaded. This was, as I recall, because I was a Prime customer and bought an album in a certain period of time.
See the attached screenshot of my Cloud Player screen for proof. Until today, above these numbers, it said "You have Unlimited Space." Now, of course, that's been removed but I do have indirect proof: how else would I have 12,000 songs in there?
This was a step backward for at least some users.
To Revelated: pause before you insult. You might not know about every use case.
Hate to be blunt, but this reply is simply wrong on all counts, as well as being a bit rude for no apparent reason.
I did have unlimited storage - well over 10,000 songs that I uploaded. This was, as I recall, because I was a Prime customer and bought an album in a certain period of time.
See the attached screenshot of my Cloud Player screen for proof. Until today, above these numbers, it said "You have Unlimited Space." Now, of course, that's been removed but I do have indirect proof: how else would I have 12,000 songs in there?
This was a step backward for at least some users.
To Revelated: pause before you insult. You might not know about every use case.
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Although this comment is clearly a lie (how could you possibly have "tried it out on a few Beatles songs?") here's my experience:
17,861 songs
4,817 Purchased
9,483 Matched
3,561 Uploaded
The Uploaded are about 90% readily explained by the fact that they are obscure and/or independent recordings or downloaded mash-ups. There are a few hundred that are clearly in the iTMS (some that were actually purchased as DRM-128AAC back in the day!!) but just won't Match. Whatever.
I use iTunes Match to keep my laptop's Library in sync with my home server that feeds iTunes to
TV and acts as a Home Sharing hub. Works reliably from iOS devices to play music, but screws up the album artwork, doesn't keep track of play counts/dates correctly, and eats up way too much cellular bandwidth. So I've shut it off on my iPhone and continue to fill it via regular sync with a rotating weighted smart playlist of ~2000 tracks (plenty for Shuffling during the daily commute). iPad (WiFi only) still uses Match and is great for traveling.Totally worth $24.99 just for the 9,483 songs upgraded to 256AAC. The rest is just a bonus.
Seriously. Who has just "a few" Beatles songs?
iTunes match is no scam, I would say at the moment there are just better options.
Amazon added a new iPad app called "Amazon Instant Video" just this morning. So, you should be all set:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-instant-video/id545519333?mt=8
Also, I believe that Amazon was actually FIRST to deliver the automatic online storage (aka backup and re-download) of purchases via its beta Cloud Player. This was well BEFORE both iTunes Match and iCloud "Purchased" features hit the market. So, I disagree that this is an example of Apple being copied.
Much of the older music in my library could use some serious tag cleaning/fixing. It's also most likely lower quality than 256 Kbps. Would Amazon Cloud Player be the ideal solution for me to both clean up my older music and upgrade its quality (I'm okay not going AAC)? I could clean it up manually, but I'm looking for a solution that is as automated as possible.
I believe this is true...I vaguely recall the same deal, and in fact, have signed into my Amazon Cloud Player for the first time since it originally went live last year, and found that it is still telling me I have unlimited space for music.
I deleted the seemingly random songs that I had apparently uploaded way back then (kind of remember it was taking forever). Gonna give a go with Amazon's scan & match to see if it can upgrade a batch of tracks that iTunes has been skipping over.
Yes, you can beat them offering it where Amazon doesn't offer their services like in the European countries
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I don't want it to upload my songs. I want it to match songs that it should easily be able to match. Yes, I probably have some stuff that I recorded off the radio in the 80s and those may not match -- but that's not my issue. My issue is that it doesn't match the beatles (and whatever else it should).
I use to code at home and I had a 300CD changer. I used LAME to convert my favorite tracks from 50+ cds to mp3. I can hear dropout at 128, 160, and sometimes at 192... so my tracks are either 192 or 256 and many are 320VBR. Itunes matches doesn't have a clue what the tunes are.
Scott
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I was beta? and paid $25 for the 14 months...
Ok, I read page 1 through this page (page 7?) -- my consolidate response:
It seems some people have a decent experience, while others have having similar issues to what
I experienced.
Since I've paid for match, and I have some time left, I'll certainly give it some more tries to see
what it does. I'll also watch for any updates, etc.
I tried pandora -- but I don't like that it won't play an artist/song you want when you want it.
I didn't pay for pandora -- so the ads were obnoxious. Are you there? Yes? HERE'S AN AD
FOR YOU.
I never got into spotify.
I like grooveshark, but it appears they're being sued into oblivion. I'd still rather listen to my music.
My music is crap, my libraries are crap, my access to my music is a joke. I'm trying to find a way
to take the music that I like and put it into a single place that I have access to from multiple
location and devices. I'm not looking to pay for the same song yet again. I pay for my music and
I ripped my music so I could listen to my music where I wanted to. I'm just trying to find the
best way to do that -- so far, it's been shuffling around local encoded copies -- but that's tedious.
Scott
Scott
I don't want it to upload my songs. I want it to match songs that it should easily be able to match. Yes, I probably have some stuff that I recorded off the radio in the 80s and those may not match -- but that's not my issue. My issue is that it doesn't match the beatles (and whatever else it should).
I use to code at home and I had a 300CD changer. I used LAME to convert my favorite tracks from 50+ cds to mp3. I can hear dropout at 128, 160, and sometimes at 192... so my tracks are either 192 or 256 and many are 320VBR. Itunes matches doesn't have a clue what the tunes are.
Scott
----------
I was beta? and paid $25 for the 14 months...
Ok, I read page 1 through this page (page 7?) -- my consolidate response:
It seems some people have a decent experience, while others have having similar issues to what
I experienced.
Since I've paid for match, and I have some time left, I'll certainly give it some more tries to see
what it does. I'll also watch for any updates, etc.
I tried pandora -- but I don't like that it won't play an artist/song you want when you want it.
I didn't pay for pandora -- so the ads were obnoxious. Are you there? Yes? HERE'S AN AD
FOR YOU.
I never got into spotify.
I like grooveshark, but it appears they're being sued into oblivion. I'd still rather listen to my music.
My music is crap, my libraries are crap, my access to my music is a joke. I'm trying to find a way
to take the music that I like and put it into a single place that I have access to from multiple
location and devices. I'm not looking to pay for the same song yet again. I pay for my music and
I ripped my music so I could listen to my music where I wanted to. I'm just trying to find the
best way to do that -- so far, it's been shuffling around local encoded copies -- but that's tedious.
Scott
Scott
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I mentioned earlier that I've had some success with iTunes Match matching some tracks I've got on phonograph records.
One of my best results was the Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a record I bought when it was first released. iTunes matched 4 of the 13 tracks. I just tried Amazon Cloud Player. It couldn't match any of them.
It's a small sample, for sure, but I'd say that Apple is doing a better job than Amazon.
I'll try some CD ripped tracks that iTunes Match couldn't handle next.
One of my best results was the Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a record I bought when it was first released. iTunes matched 4 of the 13 tracks. I just tried Amazon Cloud Player. It couldn't match any of them.
It's a small sample, for sure, but I'd say that Apple is doing a better job than Amazon.
I'll try some CD ripped tracks that iTunes Match couldn't handle next.
re: Apple charges for what "should be free" ??!
Whatever.... If you want free handouts all the time, look for the companies providing them in exchange for making you view a bunch of advertising, or who want to share your personal information in trade for it.
That's what you'll get, if you're too cheap to pay a small price for the services and products you want.
OS X Mountain Lion is only a $20 upgrade, which can then be used on ALL the Macs you own. If you can't see that as a good value, I don't even know why you're trying to use commercial operating systems in the first place?!
Whatever.... If you want free handouts all the time, look for the companies providing them in exchange for making you view a bunch of advertising, or who want to share your personal information in trade for it.
That's what you'll get, if you're too cheap to pay a small price for the services and products you want.
OS X Mountain Lion is only a $20 upgrade, which can then be used on ALL the Macs you own. If you can't see that as a good value, I don't even know why you're trying to use commercial operating systems in the first place?!
Because for better or for worse, iTunes Match is "all or nothing." Either you paid for it and it scanned your entire Library, or you didn't. There isn't really a way to "try it out" on a few selected songs (wish there was). Maybe it's just lack of clarity in the way you made the statement.
100% of my Beatles songs from the full 9/9/09 remastered CD collection Matched. Anthology songs were hit or miss for some reason, and of course a bunch of Beatles bootlegs didn't Match and were Uploaded.
The Amazon Cloud Player for iOS sure got one thing right that Apple and its Music app got wrong: the ability to switch seamlessly and instantly between accessing Cloud and Device songs with a single toggle. Crazy ridiculous that the iPhone must be "all or nothing" and either sync locally with iTunes OR play from iTunes Match in the Cloud.
My iTunes Cloud Library is just sitting there in the Cloud, right? Why can't I just choose to access it when I want?TV actually does it this way, why not other iDevices?
Now my problem is can't get the Amazon Music Uploader to work right. Just a blank window when the app launches. Updated all the Adobe Air/Flash stuff, been on chat with a (very helpful and knowledgeable) Amazon rep for over an hour to no avail.
My iTunes Cloud Library is just sitting there in the Cloud, right? Why can't I just choose to access it when I want?
TV actually does it this way, why not other iDevices?Now my problem is can't get the Amazon Music Uploader to work right. Just a blank window when the app launches. Updated all the Adobe Air/Flash stuff, been on chat with a (very helpful and knowledgeable) Amazon rep for over an hour to no avail.
Amazon does have a lot to offer in terms of content. However, I think their age of dominance is now slowly ending--the digital media market is far too competitive for them to have the market power they enjoy in physical goods, and the physical goods mkt will continue to shrink.
So far they haven't done much in tablets, and the rumors of the Amazon phone are underwhelming--if you're behind FB and MSFT in this world, I wouldn't go for it.
No doubt they will continue to be successful, but given these trends, their stock and forward earnings potential are overvalued. Of course, Jeff can surprise us, but he is no Steve.
So far they haven't done much in tablets, and the rumors of the Amazon phone are underwhelming--if you're behind FB and MSFT in this world, I wouldn't go for it.
No doubt they will continue to be successful, but given these trends, their stock and forward earnings potential are overvalued. Of course, Jeff can surprise us, but he is no Steve.
Maybe to you it is not, good for you. Last I checked, other people, with other experience & criteria inhabit this planet along with you.
To me mp3 from Amazon is often better, two reasons which matter to me:
1. mp3 plays on everything I own, AAC does not(my 4 TiVos, & some of my kid's game devices for example).
2. Many tracks & albums cost less on Amazon than on iTunes. Amazon has excellent album sales from time to time.
Those are not a "delusions", just simple facts.
If those facts are not important to you, then yep, maybe mp3 is "not better" for you.
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Amazon Offers a Good Service
I only recently tried buying from Amazon and using Cloud Player. My iPhone is a 3G, I am stuck on iOS 4.2, so I can't comment on the experience of using it with that device.
Apple should be worried. This is a convenient service, and I've yet to see a song over $.99. Once of the attractions to iTunes was the "instant gratification" part. Amazon now has this. You purchase and can play it from any Apple, Windows or Linux computer. It imported into iTunes just fine, too. You could always buy, download, then import into iTunes, but it is just easier now.
Kindle is still my choice for electronic books and has always been the best experience. The ability to read the books on any computer is also very nice. Reading on the iPhone is the most convenient, of course.
I only recently tried buying from Amazon and using Cloud Player. My iPhone is a 3G, I am stuck on iOS 4.2, so I can't comment on the experience of using it with that device.
Apple should be worried. This is a convenient service, and I've yet to see a song over $.99. Once of the attractions to iTunes was the "instant gratification" part. Amazon now has this. You purchase and can play it from any Apple, Windows or Linux computer. It imported into iTunes just fine, too. You could always buy, download, then import into iTunes, but it is just easier now.
Kindle is still my choice for electronic books and has always been the best experience. The ability to read the books on any computer is also very nice. Reading on the iPhone is the most convenient, of course.
Hm, let me think Windows XP SP 1, SP 2, Sp 3 Windows 7 SP 1 (I skipped Vista, thank god)...all free...so your right, they were not $20 ;-)
ok, that was a cheap joke, but you kind of asked for it, no offense intended.
But seriously, as someone living in both the Mac OS and the Windows world, I do not think one can compare the two pricing concepts.
Microsoft makes Money by selling the OS. Apple on the other Hand makes the OS primarily to be able to sell Hardware with a greater margin than competitors...so comparing the two is pretty close to comparing apples and oranges ;-)
Well, that's the point. Apple CHARGES for iTunes Match. And what do we get? A buggy piece of software that makes a mess out of having to download files to my phone (getting them off is a PITA). But of course, when they come out with iTunes Match 2, they'll tout "new features", they could have implemented throughout the year. But that's Apple's thing, make you pay, give you just enough to make it functional, and never hear from them again until a year later when they want to sell you the next version. But wait! iOS 6 will make it so that you can stream the music instead of downloading! Oh, really? You need to wait until iOS 6 to do that? LOLZ.
As to what gets matched...
Lots of posts on how much of library gets matched, but don't know what type of music most are talking about. My collection is now about 40K tracks, 3/4 apple lossless, guessing 85% classical, with another 1000 jazz and blues CDs not yet ripped. Couple questions:
1. Any issues matching lossless files? I know I'd be streaming 256K, but will Amazon recognize the format?
2. Has anybody tried either service with a significant amount of classical music? Amazon seems to have much more classical in it's database (especially obscure or foreign releases) - wondering if there would be a higher number of matched tracks with them.
3. I still don't understand what happens with non-matched tracks. It appears they're uploaded - but that doesn't make sense unless they're then going to stream my lossless tracks back to me.
I didn't look very hard at the iTunes match when it came out because of the track limit, but the Amazon service would be well worth the price of admission...assuming it works as advertised.
Thanks
jh
Lots of posts on how much of library gets matched, but don't know what type of music most are talking about. My collection is now about 40K tracks, 3/4 apple lossless, guessing 85% classical, with another 1000 jazz and blues CDs not yet ripped. Couple questions:
1. Any issues matching lossless files? I know I'd be streaming 256K, but will Amazon recognize the format?
2. Has anybody tried either service with a significant amount of classical music? Amazon seems to have much more classical in it's database (especially obscure or foreign releases) - wondering if there would be a higher number of matched tracks with them.
3. I still don't understand what happens with non-matched tracks. It appears they're uploaded - but that doesn't make sense unless they're then going to stream my lossless tracks back to me.
I didn't look very hard at the iTunes match when it came out because of the track limit, but the Amazon service would be well worth the price of admission...assuming it works as advertised.
Thanks
jh
Maybe and just maybe in the States and Europe but iTunes already gained a huge market share since they opened operations in Latin America, a huge chunk of Europe that was shunned and now some parts of Asia. Spotify coverage is spotty at the best at this very moment but I guess in the coming 3-4 years they will cover almost all the world. So please, let's take a seat, make some popcorn and let's watch the race.
