Apple Activates iTunes Match Setting in iOS 5, Suggesting Imminent Launch

[JayHD]

Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality.

I've gotten use to Spotify's 320Kbps streams, and it's definitely better than Apple'ss 256Kbps downloads, but I'm ok with 256Kpbs coming from the cloud as a way to greatly cut down on the amount of music I keep on my phone.

I still really, really wish Apple would support 24bit/96khz audio formats. Not much of the music I listen to is available this way, but all the Beatles, REM and Flaming Lips albums I have (plus the upcoming Pumpkins remasters) sound amazing running digital out from my PC to my Onko 7.1.

 

[Dionte]

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They enabled it so that developers on iPhone 4s could access it.

 

[golfgod130]

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They enabled it so that developers on iPhone 4s could access it.

I would guess they enabled it because the iTunes side was ready so they want to confirm syncing worked as well.

 

[brettsww]

Well it showed up for me and I turned it on.

I had already synced last week and while it claimed my library on the iPad would be replaced, it didn't do it - maybe it will after I sync.

Anyhow, I did remove some songs this morning and those songs that were removed were available from the cloud. I could download the few I tried.

At home I tried it also - all songs in the cloud would appear for download if I deleted the local copy, but some fail to download with an Error 11111.

The ones that do are 256kbs AAC files. They are DRM-free, at least loading the file in VLC works. I did notice that the file is tagged as "AAC-match" so it is easy for the OS to determine the file type and I have no idea what it will do to the downloaded tunes when the subscription expires.

What it did not do is mess with the artwork or my tags.

Thank you for answering the only question I had... I'm assuming this matched file is saved on your Mac? I wasn't sure if iTunes would re-Download the matched file to your pc or it would just stream it when you try play music via iTunes on a pc. Many thanks for clarifying!

 

[gta50419]

So basically all Match do is upgrade the quality of your songs?

 

[LoganT]

So basically all Match do is upgrade the quality of your songs?

Technically it would also lower the quality of your songs if you came from a higher bitrate.

 

[gta50419]

Technically it would also lower the quality of your songs if you came from a higher bitrate.

whatever happen to the "store & listen you songs without using space/data" thingy iTunes lied about?

 

[rworne]

Thank you for answering the only question I had... I'm assuming this matched file is saved on your Mac? I wasn't sure if iTunes would re-Download the matched file to your pc or it would just stream it when you try play music via iTunes on a pc. Many thanks for clarifying!

Yes it's there. I have access to it (it is in the same spot my deleted file was located, see the screenshot). All my non-apple audio programs can also play it no problem.

Here's some details. This is an old file I had - it was MP3. It was synced and deleted then downloaded from the cloud. You can see the file is there (size-wise) and all the tags are correct (or incorrect as it may be).

Also: your iTunes account and Name are embedded in the file. I don't know how they do it (didn't bother to look), but it is something to be aware of if you decide to "share" tracks.

 

[rworne]

whatever happen to the "store & listen you songs without using space/data" thingy iTunes lied about?

Well look at it this way:

I have a 30+GB music collection. I carry the whole thing on my iPad, which eats up half the space on it. Now I can have it mostly empty and only the stuff I am listening to is downloaded on the fly - several hundred megabytes maybe? And all this is cached (copied) onto the device. Note that it does this without user interaction if you are playing back a playlist.

And what if I forgot to sync something? I just finished ripping the Smiths CD Box set that arrived today from Amazon. I don't even need to sync my iPad and I have access to the tracks at work.

Add to that I get to use these files which are much better than the ones I made in the days I was ripping my MP3s at 128k. Looks like win all around to me.


EDIT:
It's been less than 10 minutes since the last rip and I synced to the cloud two minutes ago - my iPad already is showing the new songs

Just synced, my entire song library on the iPad just vanished. Everything is now downloadable off the clod.

Even more editing:
Now some limitations are becoming apparent. Lots of artists are simply not showing up. Foreigner, Journey, Rush, Pink Floyd, Queen - all the big ones - missing. The few that do show up (Christina Aguilera) show up, but all the tracks refuse to download. The offbeat stuff is there (from smaller labels, I guess). The foreign titles (non-RIAA) are all there. My massive JPOP collection is intact. So now I can use match and miss a bunch of stuff, or sync via iTunes.

 

[andreiru]

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So this will free up space on the device itself? But only works over wifi and lowers bit rate?

 

[hexonxonx]

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So this will free up space on the device itself? But only works over wifi and lowers bit rate?

It lowers bit rate if they are higher than 256Kbps and only if you allow it to.

 

[Liontor]

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iTunes Match Comming soon can be seen on the Hungarian Music store too.

 

[ryanromine]

It appears after just playing around with iTunes match that it takes the music from whatever source that you got it from and makes it better. I understand that, but what it seems to be doing is as you play it from the cloud it downloads onto your device. Is this accurate?

 

[iPaddy]

When did Apple say match would come to the UK?

 

[hooper2]

How big is the iTunes Match cache for an iOS device? Does it clear out automatically when you hit it and listen to/download new tracks? Can you manually set it?

 

[repete7]

Can the "matched" tracks be converted to MP3s? I've got a bunch of the old protected AAC files. I would like to use iTunes Match to replace them and then convert them to MP3s which I could put on a USB stick and play on my car stereo. Possible?

 

[benguild]

Can the "matched" tracks be converted to MP3s? I've got a bunch of the old protected AAC files. I would like to use iTunes Match to replace them and then convert them to MP3s which I could put on a USB stick and play on my car stereo. Possible?

Yes. There is no DRM.

 

[Zimmy68]

Here is my question:

I have my iTunes library on my desktop PC at home.

I have around 3 authorized PCs including my Mac Book Pro at work.

I go out at lunch and buy a CD, rip it on my work laptop to it's iTunes (not my main library).

Will those new songs get sent to the cloud and included in my main library proper?

 

[milo]

On the topic of upgrading: Songs that are matched are only upgraded when you download the file from iTunes. For example, when I deleted a song from my iTunes the little Cloud logo appeared. I then clicked it to begin the re-download. Once the file was completed it had artwork that my file was missing and the file type had switch from an "MPEG audio file" to a "Matched ACC Audio File".

Great post, thanks for all the info. In this situation, when you replace the deleted song with a downloaded version, does it preserve play count, ratings, and edited metadata (including stuff like lyrics)?

I also often wondered about what it will do to the tracks that are ripped at a higher quality AAC/mp3 or in Apple Lossless. I have good headphones and a amp for my ipod, i would be pretty miffed if all of the tracks i have in lossless were suddenly 256bit AAC.

With higher quality tracks it doesn't replace the files (actually it sounds like it doesn't replace any unless you specifically delete the old versions). Songs loaded from your mac should be the higher quality, ones you get from the cloud are 256. And you shouldn't blow your bandwith limits unless you have a lot of material not matched, anything that is matched isn't uploaded.

So basically all Match do is upgrade the quality of your songs?

Nope, that's not even the main feature.

Technically it would also lower the quality of your songs if you came from a higher bitrate.

Only in the case of matched songs when you're downloading them on the go. It doesn't touch higher bitrate on your computer.

So this will free up space on the device itself? But only works over wifi and lowers bit rate?

Yes, no, and no.

Now some limitations are becoming apparent. Lots of artists are simply not showing up. Foreigner, Journey, Rush, Pink Floyd, Queen - all the big ones - missing. The few that do show up (Christina Aguilera) show up, but all the tracks refuse to download. The offbeat stuff is there (from smaller labels, I guess). The foreign titles (non-RIAA) are all there. My massive JPOP collection is intact. So now I can use match and miss a bunch of stuff, or sync via iTunes.

If that stuff isn't matched, shouldn't it be uploaded instead? Seems like everything in any library should be available one way or the other.

 

[gta50419]

Nope, that's not even the main feature.

what's the main feature then? Will it still save your first 25,000 songs as "cache" without using harddrive space so you can listen to it anywhere without wifi/3g like they said when they first introduced it?

 

[tazinlwfl]

My advice is buy an external device and periodically back up all of your music. However, ONCE your music has been Matched/Upload the rest that won't match, you can then delete ALL of the songs on any of your devices and then download them as you need to hear, INCLUDING from the computer you originally Matched/Uploaded with. This will big news for people who have their music on a laptop where space is a premium.

At this point, elect to buy the plan every year and you're safe. Again, I would highly advise to make a backup of your own to be on the safe side. Externals are cheap enough now that this should be economical for just about anyone.

I think the simple fact that you can't sync music with iTunes when Match is activated is a bad thing for people who's main media consumption device is an iPhone. 3G data is at a premium now, and having to download all of the songs you'd want to listen to before you leave a wifi hotspot (or else be subject to overages - 2GB of music is not that much) sort of destroys hope for a lot of people.

 

[MJA3488]

For those of us who have uploaded all or some of their music so far, do you know if its still apple's plan to delete it all and make us do it all over again?

It took forever...

 

[milo]

Will it still save your first 25,000 songs as "cache" without using harddrive space so you can listen to it anywhere without wifi/3g like they said when they first introduced it?

Without wifi/3g? It lets you access songs remotely via internet connection. I'm not sure how it would be possible to get songs that aren't stored without a data connection.

I think the simple fact that you can't sync music with iTunes when Match is activated is a bad thing for people who's main media consumption device is an iPhone.

But can't you still do a wireless sync over wifi when you're home? And with Match enabled, does it really not do faster wired sync when it's connected that way?

 

[bryanbeary]

The genius feature on my iPhone is completely missing after enabling Match.

Atomic symbol gone from 'now playing' screen.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[tazinlwfl]

But can't you still do a wireless sync over wifi when you're home? And with Match enabled, does it really not do faster wired sync when it's connected that way?

Syncing over WiFi is LAN-based. Match is internet based. Downloading songs from Match is slower than syncing them over wifi. But the point is you still need to have all of your music downloaded before you hit the road, unless you download songs over 3G, which adds up quickly and will surely put a LOT of people over their monthly limit. From what I gather (according to the numerous beta users of the service posting here), you cannot sync some songs from iTunes (USB or wifi) AND download others with Match. It's either Match only or Sync only.

Which defeats the point of having access to all of your music from the cloud - what good is it if I need to be around Wi-Fi anyways? It'll be recommended to download a playlist before you leave the house or work, in which case it'll be more efficient to just sync over wifi.