Apple Releases iTunes 10.5.1 Beta 3 for More iTunes Match Testing

Improvements

Does anyone that is using iTunes match beta see any improvements as these betas go on? I am not a developer but am just curious to know what these beta have been adding in regards to better performance, new features, how many songs are matched, ect.
 
Yes.... normally that is the case. I just didn't think anything not in iTunes would be matched--particularly AC/DC. But I am not complaining!



Michael

Being in the UK, I haven't been able to check iTunes match yet, but there are some very odd matching instances around.

A few years ago I bought a couple of the iTunes collections (Depeche Mode & U2 computer for example). They are not available any more, and many of the songs are not on the store. If I check the purchased tab in the iTunes store, most of the tracks are available for redownload, but many are not. There seems to be very little rhyme or reason as to which ones are there and which ones aren't.

I don't know if this is a sign of how many will flag up as purchased (and therefore not go against the 25,000 limit), but I suspect it may do.
 
Can someone who's using the new beta verify if this bug still exists in the column browser:

1) Select an item in a column to give the pane focus.

2) Press a letter to do an alphabetical jump. This should highlight the first item in the list that begins with letter pressed, and select it.

3) Use the mouse, and attempt to scroll the list.

In previous versions (10.3 for sure; I jumped directly to 10.5), the Finder, and elsewhere in the OS, the list should just scroll as expected, beginning from the selection point arrived at through the key press.

However, I've found that in 10.5, what happens is that while the selection remains intact, trying to scroll with the mouse causes iTunes to lose visual focus and scroll from the very top of the list. Using the keyboard arrows will scroll up and down as expected, but use the mouse, and iTunes completely loses the plot. It's as if it's treating the mouse and keyboard as discrete input modes.

To illustrate:

-Click in the column pane to select it; the "All" item at the top of the list is selected and highlighted.

-Press a key to jump to say, artists beginning with "P"

-It jumps to and highlights "Peter Gabriel," the first one in my library that matches.

-However, I want to select "Peter Murphy," so I attempt to use the mouse to scroll down.

-But, instead of scrolling down, from "Peter Gabriel" as expected, it jumps to the top of the list and scrolls down from there.

-If I use the down arrow, it works as expected.


I just need to know whether I still need to file the bug.

Fixed
 
We have 5GB free in iCloud. What if we have 8GB of music? Does this mean we have to purchase more memory? Does music in the cloud take up space on your phone or touch? I am a little confused on how this works.
 
In regard to what tracks are matched to. The music doesn't have to necessarily be available on iTunes in order for your songs to me matched, just has to be on iTunes Store servers. Somebody gave the example of AC/DC being matched which I also experienced. AC/DC has not yet been available for download from itunes but my guess is apple was at one point or ready to offer or will soon offer those tracks and that's why they are available on its servers. I have also had a few cases where I have songs that we're purchased years ago from iTunes but are no longer available, iTunes will still match these songs.

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We have 5GB free in iCloud. What is we have 8GB of music? Does this mean we have to purchase more memory? Does music in the cloud take up space on your phone or touch? I am a little confused on how this works.

MiTunes Match does not count towards your storage limit. You have a limit of 25000 matched songs and that's it you don't have to worry about file size. Purchased songs from iTunes do not count agains the 25000 limit.
 
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Does anyone that is using iTunes match beta see any improvements as these betas go on? I am not a developer but am just curious to know what these beta have been adding in regards to better performance, new features, how many songs are matched, ect.

The betas seem to be getting worse for me. The first worked fine although it only matched maybe 50 songs out of 7,000. The rest took days to upload but the service worked. I did read that when it was first launched, the number of songs that would potentially match was purposefully set low so I didn't read too much into it only matching 50 songs. I figured they're just testing things out.

Beta 3 and beta 2 before it crash constantly... like every 5 minutes if Match is turned on. I can't even finish the match process before iTunes crashes. I've restarted a dozen times and I'm done trying. I'm waiting for a finished product and hope that it is worlds more reliable than what they're showing us now. Apple appears to be cursed when it comes to the cloud.
 
I think I'll pass on this new offering when it arrives...

I've got more stuff in iTunes than my "free" five gigs will store, and I'm not popping for more. Further, it seems to me that this "feature" is nothing more than a churner of iPhone and iPad data services for which ATT, Verizon and others already make zillions off of. I wonder what Apple's commission is... :rolleyes:
 
After buying this service, what's to stop people from simply converting youtube songs to mp3s, then having itunes match upconvert them to 256kbps?

Nothing. And it doesn't really matter because you can already get songs illegally a number of ways. At least if you pay to use this the record labels get something out of it.

...
However, I've found that in 10.5, what happens is that while the selection remains intact, trying to scroll with the mouse causes iTunes to lose visual focus and scroll from the very top of the list. Using the keyboard arrows will scroll up and down as expected, but use the mouse, and iTunes completely loses the plot. It's as if it's treating the mouse and keyboard as discrete input modes...

Yep, I've been seeing that with the latest release version and it's really annoying. Anyone know if it's fixed in this beta?


Is this vaporware

It's late but considering they're still less than two weeks past their original promised date "vaporware" is a stretch.
 
I think I'll pass on this new offering when it arrives...

I've got more stuff in iTunes than my "free" five gigs will store, and I'm not popping for more. Further, it seems to me that this "feature" is nothing more than a churner of iPhone and iPad data services for which ATT, Verizon and others already make zillions off of. I wonder what Apple's commission is... :rolleyes:

Sounds like you don't know what Itunes match actually is.
 
Sounds like you don't know what Itunes match actually is.

It is incredible how many people are totally misunderstanding this. I'm not criticising people for that, but it seems that Apple really haven't explained it very well. Perhaps they will when it is actually released.

It seems that the major selling point for many people is the ability to upgrade songs to 256kbps, but as I see it, this is just an incidental of Apple matching, rather than uploading. They will obviously use the files that they have, which are at 256. The actual point of the service is to provide an online copy of your library.

From reading comments on various threads, a lot of people seem to be expecting it to automatically upgrade all the files on their computer. Many are also concerned about Match messing around with the files on their computer. I've seen much talk of people being concerned about songs being overwritten by clean versions etc.

Really, people need to think of this as an online copy of their library. If you don't delete anything from your main library then it will be left alone. It just gives you an online copy that you can use to download to your devices or (I believe) other computers. As long as you don't mess around with the metadata on those other computers then your main library will be safe and unaltered. If you want to upgrade a file then you have to manually delete and redownload it.

Once this is actually released a guide will be very useful I think. It would avoid a few of the multiple threads we will have from people who don't understand it.
 
Matthew,I don't know if you are trying to be snarky. But you really ought to have a clue before assuming this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Why don't you do a google search for Music digital watermark ?

Sigh. Yes of course I know about digital watermarking. The difference I was talking about was between songs you've "stolen" and songs you've ripped yourself. All I was saying is there would be no difference between something you've downloaded that someone else ripped, or something you ripped yourself.
 
Once you stop paying for Match, you lose access to those songs anyway.
Copying them away would be abuse of service, though.

You lose the ability to download them again, but you still have the local copies of the files. And why would copying those files be "abuse", you've always been able to copy songs purchased on iTunes to other computers and devices, this is no different.


I'd be interested to hear if one of those downloaded "matched" files can be copied to a jump drive, then to a completely independent PC and played in 3rd party software like Windows Media Player, even copied to and played on a competitor's MP3 player. Can the file be opened in Quicktime and exported into WAV or AIFF or "pass through" M4A?

That was tested and confirmed a long time ago. Files can be copied to other computers and devices, and you can even convert to other formats using iTunes. Anything you can do with purchased iTunes songs (the current non-DRM version) you can do with Match files.

Sure feels as if Apple could "expire" those matched files if you don't up your $25 each year, and this would be a completely legitimate model.

But they're not. They even said NO DRM at the announcement and it still says that in their materials online.

The curious inconsistency of the iTunes Store still offering to upgrade 1899 of my "old" iTunes tracks...

Either they're going to discontinue that when Match goes public or they'll keep it for people who want to upgrade instead of getting Match.

ETA: Are those files definitely the full m4a files, or perhaps disguised m3u files that simply "link" to the song in the iTunes Store?

Full songs, again they're no different than a file purchased from iTunes.


It is now $1.29US a song on iTunes.

Not all of them, some are 1.29, others are .99 and .69.


I've got more stuff in iTunes than my "free" five gigs will store...

This service is completely separate from the "free" iCloud stuff. And the limit is 25000 songs, and anything purchased from the iTunes store doesn't count toward that limit.
 
Nope, it's not a streaming service. BUT, when you want to play something that you don't have downloaded, it will start playing at the same time that it's downloading, giving the impression of streaming. It will download the whole file though.

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Would be a lot better if it did it on it's own though! Automatically updating when you add new music would be nice.

I just installed the latest beta of iTunes, and while it does definitely download and not stream on my iPad. It IS streaming on my other Mac. I have my iCloud library setup on my Mac Pro and from my MacBook Pro I connect up with my iCloud library and it DOES NOT download the tracks when I play them.
 
Been working with Match for a few weeks and thought I would post a FAQ type response here to what I see people asking over and over again.

1. When you enable Match it goes through a three step process. Analyzing your library, matching songs, uploading non-matched content. It does this for your whole library. You can't choose to exclude songs other than taking them out of your library.

2. If a song is matched, it becomes available to download in 256K AAC. If a song is not matched it is copied in its current format and bit rate up to 320K. If the file is Lossless however, it is converted (presumably by your computer) to a 256k AAC file and then uploaded.

3. Nothing happens to your local music when you run match. If you have a lower quality song that was matched you can remove it from your local library and then replace it with the 256k version. What happens is you delete the song, but the entry in iTunes stays, but a little cloud now shows up in a newly added column that shows you that you have a song that is in the cloud but not in your library. You can click on the cloud and it will download it to your local library, where again it is now permanently yours at the higher bit rate.

4. Match uses your meta-data. If you in an anal-retentive fashion have made lots of custom edits to your files, that is what gets copied to the cloud. Even if you replace your songs with the upgraded versions you keep your previous metal-data.

5. Your limit is 25,000 songs and purchased from iTunes don't count, but matched does. Again if you have personal recordings etc. they won't match (obviously) but will be copied to the cloud in their current format (see above for Lossless exception)

6. Songs below 100k (I couldn't tell if it was below 128K since I don't have any at 100k) are listed as ineligible and nothing happens with them.

7. iTunes runs match on any new material that is added. I.e. when you rip a new album it is matched or copied to the cloud depending on how the match worked. Also, when you change meta-data, it immediately moves that meta-data to the cloud. So, if you correct a name on your iMac, it fixes the name in match. However, if you already had it downloaded on your phone, it would not be changed. But if you delete if from your phone and download it again you would see the new information.

8. iTunes match is not an amnesty program. Because there is no way to prove that matched songs came from a legitimate source, you can't claim you "own" the songs simply because you have a matched version. The RIAA might still prove that your IP address downloaded a file and sue you. Also, since meta-data is preserved if there is a comment like "ripped by mega-thief" it's still going to be there, unless you clean it manually. This does reduce the likelihood that they could prove it was illegally obtained because it had say a specific bit-sum, but it was never a crime to be in possession of files if it couldn't be proven that you up or downloaded it. So, be aware, this does little to protect you from the RIAA.

9. You have reasonable control to get songs off the cloud that you don't want there, but if you keep it in any iTunes library that has match enabled, it will re-upload it when you update the library.

10. I still have a good number of non-obscure albums that end up with 9 out of 10 songs matching. So, when I download to my phone I end up with 9 256K AAC songs and 1 128k MP3. I don't like that.

There are probably more things that people are asking, but hopefully this helps relive some of the FUD about match.
 
With regard to any concerns that upgraded songs will expire or something if you don't renew Match after a year, despite the fact that many people have checked the files already and confirm they seem to be DRM free, consider this example.

Mr Bloggs has, for the last 10 years or so bought all his music from legitimate sources. Some are CD Rips, and many have been bought from online sources. He has a total of 1,000 old songs purchased online from various legitimate sources that are in 128kbps quality.

He subscribes to Match and he finds that these old songs are all on line for him at 256kbps. He deletes them off his computer and downloads the upgraded files.

After a year he decides not to renew iTunes Match and finds that his files no longer work. He has therefore lost 1,000 legitimately purchased songs as he has deleted the originals and the new files don't work.

If that was the case then Apple could theoretically say that they did recommend that people keep backups, but I think that generally they believe that having customers is a good thing, so I don't think they would put themselves in that position.

It ain't gonna happen.

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Lots of useful stuff

Thanks, that's just what we needed.

Unfortunately, that post will be forgotten soon and all the same questions will come up. :)
 
Does anyone know what happens to songs that isn't connected to your iTunes account and yet they're still in your iTunes library? Does it get music matched as well?

I have a few songs bought on my dad's iTunes account (before I was old enough to have my own credit card) and I iTunes Plus'd them when I got my own account. I know that they won't copy over when you're doing Home Sharing and the only way around it afaik is to convert it to a different file to remove the "purchased by" tags.
 
Been working with Match for a few weeks and thought I would post a FAQ type response here to what I see people asking over and over again.

Excellent post, thanks for writing it.

Does the transferred metadata include lyrics? In previous versions it was reported that those weren't included in files from Match along with other metadata.

Also, can audio files be excluded by changing them from Music to another type (like Audiobook or voice note)? I'm sure I'm not the only one with a bunch of files that have no reason to be included in Match.


huh? That makes no sense. WHY would the whole world prefer gift cards to credit cards as a form of payment?

He was talking about requiring CC because that gives the user's location. If everything on iTunes could be done with gift cards, that would be an easy way to get around any location based limits.
 
how does iTunes Match work now as far as streaming from iPhone/iPad/iPod touch? previously, i know Apple was testing out streaming but they eventually changed it to download only. Right now, can you stream on the go or do you need to download songs first?
 
Playlist question

I have read that playlists on your computer are maintained and made availabile through iTunes match to all of your devices.

If I have a playlist that only exists on my iPhone will that playlist be availabile to my computer and ipad or must I duplicate it on my computer not to lose tht specific list?

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This is the first build I've noticed without the b at the end of the version number. I am guessing this is the release candidate.

Can anyone else confirm? Would make sense as I believe the wording of the email about this data wipe was :

"As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST."
 
Do you know if the iTunes store matters for Match?

So let's say I bought an import album that is in the UK iTunes store but not the US. Will it detect as a match and allow me to update to higher quality or prompt for an upload. I'm guessing the latter for now. I wonder once deals are in place with record labels worldwide if they will still restrict by what's available in your country's store.
 
I can confirm there is no b in this version.


I have read that playlists on your computer are maintained and made availabile through iTunes match to all of your devices.

If I have a playlist that only exists on my iPhone will that playlist be availabile to my computer and ipad or must I duplicate it on my computer not to lose tht specific list?

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Can anyone else confirm? Would make sense as I believe the wording of the email about this data wipe was :

"As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST."
 
I have read that playlists on your computer are maintained and made availabile through iTunes match to all of your devices.

If I have a playlist that only exists on my iPhone will that playlist be availabile to my computer and ipad or must I duplicate it on my computer not to lose tht specific list?

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Can anyone else confirm? Would make sense as I believe the wording of the email about this data wipe was :

"As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST."

wont they need to wipe it again because of beta 3? the public release is probably farther away than if that is the case.
 
After a year he decides not to renew iTunes Match and finds that his files no longer work. He has therefore lost 1,000 legitimately purchased songs as he has deleted the originals and the new files don't work.

If that was the case then Apple could theoretically say that they did recommend that people keep backups, but I think that generally they believe that having customers is a good thing, so I don't think they would put themselves in that position.

Non-DRM files cannot "expire." It's like saying "what if the CD I bought expires and won't play in my player." It can't happen. Once you upgrade your songs they are "untethered" to Apple in anyway.
 
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