Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Aiming to Increase Music Library Matching Limit to 100,000 Tracks 'Before the End of the Year'

pushingrobot said:
Yeah, I'm sure everything was specified in excruciating detail when they signed contracts with the labels, including library limits. Maybe as a result of their negotiations over Apple Music they were able to stretch those limits.

There's no technical reason to stop at 25,000; even storage space isn't a great concern as most tracks are matched with content already in the iTunes library. On Apple's end it is really as simple as changing a value in their code.
Click to expand...
My guess is that everything is set to go in the backend, but the music industry wants to see how successful Apple Music will be before they sign off on it. Notice how the first, probably large batch of 3-months-free users ended right about the time iOS 9 came out, when we were told the 100,000 track limit would debut. There was a lot of press about people dumping Apple Music when the trial was over. So it makes sense to me that the music industry wants to see how Apple Music performs with paying users on board.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dk001 and iMerik
iTunes Match:

Censored my un-cencensored tracks
Couldn't match complete albums (that were most definitely available on the iTunes Store)

After that, I became skeptical of any Apple-related music service...

But at least I got a refund!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing, dk001 and load97
Why would someone with a large library over 25k trust their music to a flaky DESTRUCTIVE service lie iTunes Match? Yes, I've had my music library destroyed by Match twice (Luckily I had most of it backed up before I turned it on, but I still had to spend weeks reburning CDs) will never use it again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing
bbeagle said:
Obviously you're not a developer.

It's not as simple as changing
Code: 
MAX_MATCHES = 25000
to
Code: 
MAX_MATCHES = 100000

The database size must be increased, the interface needs to be able to handle more matches, the search function needs to handle more and still be quick, the converter, server side code needs to be updated. Maybe licensing requirements or laws might need updating.

If the developers released all they did afterwards, you'd be amazed.
Click to expand...

Woah hold on with the strawman and condescending tone... I never said nor implied it was as simple as changing a constant.

All I'm saying is that I would expect Apple to have the resources to upgrade this feature (with all it implies, i.e. not just changing a constant) faster than that. It just seems like a pretty minor thing when you put in perspective, considering Apple releases new cloud-related services and features every year, on top of having to scale existing services for the growing number of users. Absolulely no cloud-related feature Apple has to implement is easy, but some are still easier to implement than others, and some definitely get more focus (allocated resources) than others.

The only relevant suggestion I got from your comment was that it might be a legal issue slowing down the process rather than technical complexity. That's something I didn't think of. Surely you could have said that more respectfully though.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mijail, milo and lars666
BillyMatt87 said:
iTunes Match:

Censored my un-cencensored tracks
Couldn't match complete albums (that were most definitely available on the iTunes Store)

After that, I became skeptical of any Apple-related music service...

But at least I got a refund!
Click to expand...

Hearing these complains is what has stopped me from paying for match. If I was confident that they could actually deliver the promised services and features, I would easily pay double than their asking price. However, even though the negative comments are few, they are frequent enough for me to doubt the service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing and nickgerber1
bbeagle said:
Obviously you're not a developer.

It's not as simple as changing
Code: 
MAX_MATCHES = 25000
to
Code: 
MAX_MATCHES = 100000

The database size must be increased, the interface needs to be able to handle more matches, the search function needs to handle more and still be quick, the converter, server side code needs to be updated. Maybe licensing requirements or laws might need updating.

If the developers released all they did afterwards, you'd be amazed.
Click to expand...

I am a developer and I have to say you're a **** programmer if you wrote a program where things work at 25k but not 100k.

This should entirely be a legal issue - the code shouldn't even have to change. It should just grab that number from some configuration file somewhere (that configuration file will have to change. Possibly you have multiple configuration files - one for each region, that needs to change. Since you might get the change approved in one country but not another, for example.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mijail, navaira, milo and 1 other person
I also have a feeling that this will actually save Apple money in the long run. I haven't heard anyone suggest this, but here is my theory.

Apple only pays when you stream from Apple Music IF you don't own the song. If you do own the song, then Apple has no obligation to give the musician anything. For those users with large library's that also subscribe to Apple Music & Apple Match, they can match the song, say you own it and not have to pay the fee for streaming the music. If they can clean up Apple Match, increase the song limit, and fix some of the issues, they'll be paying less in fees. It's a win/win for Apple, the end user is happy, and Apple saves money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Derived
pgiguere1 said:
I find it weird that it's taking so long. I mean, only a small minority (maybe 1%) of Apple Music/iTunes Match users would use >25k songs. It's not like they'd have to upgrade storage by 4x for everybody.
Click to expand...

I could be totally wrong but I always had the impression that the 25k limit was a contractual thing with the record companies, not a technical limitation.
 
Benjamin Frost said:
Have you actually listened to all that music? I mean, sat down and really listened without doing anything else?
Click to expand...

It's not about that you need to listen to all 100k tracks or proof this to anybody, but just having the possibility to listen to each track of your library wherever you are using whatever device.

My library is smaller too, but I just don't matter as I know some people have larger ones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xlost6, rhett7660, milo and 1 other person
it should be unlimited amounts of music in the cloud especially when you only have Apple Music there is no need for the limits. Also need to stop all those tracks that are grayed out it is friggin annoying in Apple Music. Apple Music also needs the option for a higher sound quality and better searching tool it is annoying when you find albums under only the artist profile or when looking under artist profile albums it keeps loading.
 
This is good news, but honestly I'd rather they improved the actual matching. Failing to match major new releases because the iTunes download has half a second less silence at the end of a track or similar shouldn't still be happening after this amount of time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Derived, jimthing, milo and 2 others
nickgerber1 said:
does the user need to download the music to their iOS device, or can they stream it and keep it in the cloud?
Click to expand...

Stream from cloud. No way all my CDs are copied to my phone, but I can listen to all of them streaming. Moreso, my :apple:TV plays my library but keeps nothing local.
 
BillyMatt87 said:
iTunes Match:

Censored my un-cencensored tracks
Couldn't match complete albums (that were most definitely available on the iTunes Store)

After that, I became skeptical of any Apple-related music service...

But at least I got a refund!
Click to expand...
The explicit lyrics BS needs to stop. I'd use the service again if they (and/other companies) get it straightened out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jimthing
People here are overlooking audiobooks. Rip one of those, could take 20 discs with a track every few minutes - hundreds or thousands of tracks, can soak up any limit pretty fast. I've taken to ripping for convenience, then deleting just to get the "most likely won't listen to again" tracks cleared out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: milo
That's great to hear. That gives them a lot more chances to change more of my artwork and match to wrong versions of my songs! Come on Apple FIX THIS!
 
They need to fix the Apple Music-iTunes Match mess! Make that priority #1. I have had to downgrade my iTunes software to the version before Apple Music in order to get my DRM free matched music with my iTunes Match subscription. Problem with iTunes 12.2 or later is that if you add new music to your library and you have both a Match and Apple music subscription, new music downloads as a drm locked Apple Music file rather than the Matched drm free file. It was supposed to be addressed already but it is still an issue!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost, navaira and jimthing
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back