iTunes Match: $24.99/Year, Matches Ripped Tunes, Offers Them In The Cloud

[swingerofbirch]

I just downloaded iTunes 10.3, and it will not let you redownload tracks you received for free, which for me, is a lot of tracks through out the years, with the 3-5 that are free each week, along with free sampler packs. If I can't redownload them I guess they don't count as purchased items, and I guess they expect you to upload those separately with iTunes Match? I'm not sure if they will match them or make you upload them? It's very confusing. And I was a bit disappointed in that.

 

[teme]

Please explain to me how iCloud does NOT do that? Did you even see what its about or how it works?

For $25 a year you can download all your music from a server to your devices. Simple.

Downloading tracks from iCloud and deleting them after listening is much more troublesome than streaming music. If you could stream your whole 20000+ songs iTunes library, you'd save a lots of space on your iPhone for apps etc.

 

[tigress666]

I just downloaded iTunes 10.3, and it will not let you redownload tracks you received for free, which for me, is a lot of tracks through out the years, with the 3-5 that are free each week, along with free sampler packs. If I can't redownload them I guess they don't count as purchased items, and I guess they expect you to upload those separately with iTunes Match? I'm not sure if they will match them or make you upload them? It's very confusing. And I was a bit disappointed in that.

At first I was about to refute that cause I know it had at least one song on there I got for free (It was one of the first itunes I got and I got those with some Pepsi promotion where one in three caps had a code for a free itunes song where it basically gave you credit to download one song of your choice).

But then I also tried to find another song I got free free using a Starbucks promotion card (it was one of the two songs a week they give away free but it was for a specific song). And that one is not on there.

So maybe it depends on the promotion that it was given away on too?

 

[danrees]

Thankfully I will be moving to the US for a year in a few weeks so will be able to take advantage of these iCloud goodies.

Hopefully an opportunity to permanently upgrade my 128kbps library to 256kpbs. When I was a teenager I literally had stacks of CDs about 100 high and only ripped these at 128kpbs (5GB was lot back then).

 

[Nabby51]

I agree with most that streaming is a great option. However, with data caps from ISP's continuing to shrink, at what point will this become a problem? I use an average of around 1GB of data on my cell phone per month and if I were to stream my entire music library my data usage would skyrocket.

As far a legitimizing pirated music, I highly doubt that. There is a lot of red tape potential there. The only solid selling point I can see from Apple's stand point is that they told the record companies that getting some money for your music is better then getting no money at all. On the other hand, who is to say that the record companies don't come for the top users of the "matching" service and ask them to provide proof of purchase. And let's be honest, pirates will be pirates, and they will continue to be so. However, offering this matching service may get some people on the side of paying up for their music in one way or another.

The other item I see here is the potential for future sales. Once apple gets you in on their services you will be inclined to just buy the music from them later on. I have acquired my music from services other then iTunes for two major reasons: The price and the quality of the songs (I can live with 256kpbs that is their current offerings). However, now that this service has come about my future purchases may be through iTunes and that is the catch. Being able to sync with up to 10 devices for a single purchase, that is a massive selling point. This seems to include Windows PC's as well so there is another bonus.

 

[iRobby]

I downloaded iTunes 10.3 went to preferences and checked automatic downloads for ibooks apps and Music then went to iTunes Store on my iPhone to purchase a song and it didn't automatic download on my iTunes PC. i had to manually download it under Purchased. what do I need to do to get the auto?

 

[MrSmith]

So do I have to wait for them to build a data centre here before I get the service...?

 

[gnasher729]

If I was a used CD store owner I would start offering "ripping" services - bring your laptop to my store and rip as many CDs as you want for $10 a session. You don't get to take the CD with you.

1. That was criminal yesterday before iTunes Match, and it is criminal with iTunes match. Expect to go to jail for it.

2. Pirating music was possible yesterday before iTunes Match, and it is possible today with iTunes Match. Nothing has actually changed. So why haven't you done this before?

3. Why would anyone use this service, when you can easily copy anyone's complete music collection (illegally, of course)?

They can't know that. I think this service is too good to be true (that's why I assumed it's actually a streaming service), because it basically upgrades all your skippy low-quality old mp3's to official high-quality iTunes Plus tracks. I find it really hard to believe that record labels would allow it. For example, if you have U2 discography ripped from scratchy CD's, and you planned purchasing those tracks again from iTunes Store, you don't have to purchase them anymore - just buy iTunes Match and use it to get the high quality U2 discography in iTunes Plus format.

But what you say should be obvious to Apple and to the record companies, and they signed contracts, and these contracts will cover this. I personally think that most people have a budget how much they can spend every month on music, and that's what they spend. So if you bought this U2 discography there will be other music that you don't buy because of this. If you get your U2 records for free, you will buy other stuff. And you pay $25 for it for the rest of your life.

But I thought Amazon should be quite happy about this. Because some people prefer Apple's AAC to Amazon's MP3, and now these people can buy at the cheapest place, wherever that is (for example Amazon), and still get 256KBit AAC quality.

 

[iRobby]

I downloaded iTunes 10.3 went to preferences and checked automatic downloads for ibooks apps and Music then went to iTunes Store on my iPhone to purchase a song and it didn't automatic download on my iTunes PC. i had to manually download it under Purchased. what do I need to do to get the auto?

I figured it out iTunes on the PC has to be closed. it automatically downloads when you reopen iTunes

 

[fpnc]

Okay, by using iCloud downloading I was able to update six protected music videos that I purchased from iTunes several years ago that were still in their original QVGA (320x240) format. Thus, these files are still protected but at least they are now in a larger, higher-quality format (640x480 or similar, and yes, I confirmed that when they are played they look much better, sharper and clearer). A few of these were never made available to me as iTunes Plus upgrades and I certainly wouldn't have purchased them again at full price just to get the larger sizes.

I also re-downloaded a song that had some errors in the encoding (purchased a year or two ago), the new download fixed that problem.

In any case, at least iCloud is giving me something in return for my long and loyal purchase history with iTunes.

 

[msubugzy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Have to say this one of the most entertaining threads on MR in a while...everybody needs to calm down and wait...how this will all work I'm sure will become much more clear in the coming days and weeks...anybody on here claiming they know exactly how this will all function from a practical sence are just talking out their ass. Until we have the full functionality in hand (or iDevices) nobody (outside of Apple) really knows how all these little details will work.

So in summery everybody needs to put their heads down on their desks, take a few deep breaths, and calm down.

 

[MrSmith]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Have to say this one of the most entertaining threads on MR in a while...everybody needs to calm down and wait...how this will all work I'm sure will become much more clear in the coming days and weeks...anybody on here claiming they know exactly how this will all function from a practical sence are just talking out their ass. Until we have the full functionality in hand (or iDevices) nobody (outside of Apple) really knows how all these little details will work.

So in summery everybody needs to put their heads down on their desks, take a few deep breaths, and calm down.

Ne'er a truer word... Though it's a good diversion from what I really need to think about.

 

[fpnc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Have to say this one of the most entertaining threads on MR in a while...everybody needs to calm down and wait...how this will all work I'm sure will become much more clear in the coming days and weeks...anybody on here claiming they know exactly how this will all function from a practical sence are just talking out their ass...

But for iOS devices we already know how the iCloud downloads for iTunes' purchased content works since that is already enabled. The only part we don't know is how the iTunes Match will work. <update, I see, this thread is about iTunes Match, I was confusing this thread with the general discussion about iCloud and iTunes music. So, yes, we don't know how iTunes Match will really work.>

However, I think it was interesting that before Steve Jobs actually introduced iTunes Match he said twice that this "one more thing" was actually a "little thing" and I don't believe that he was trying to be funny. Even Steve didn't appear that excited about iTunes Match. He also said that he believed that very few people would find a need for iTunes Match.

 

[Cybbe]

Please explain to me how iCloud does NOT do that? Did you even see what its about or how it works?

For $25 a year you can download all your music from a server to your devices. Simple.

What I find slightly disturbing about Apple's cloud offering is the (seemingly) complete lack of web access. Say you are at work. Depending on your privileges, you might not be able to download and install iTunes. Does Apple offer a web interface for accessing your music? Doesn't seem like it. The service seems to be limited to Apple devices and software, and as such it does few things I cannot already do (sure, I can't have all my music on my iPhone, but I can still have a few thousand songs with me at any given time).

What are the advantages of this service compared to, say, Spotify, Napster, or even Zune Pass (which I know is not available on Mac), except price? Unlimited streaming (plus downloads in some cases) vs streaming of what you already own?

Of course, if this will sanitize a library of music obtained through non-commercial channels it starts getting interesting, but I severely doubt Apple will offer anything but streaming of these songs.

 

[Artey]

A lot of people are not seeing the usefulness of iTunes Match. How many songs in your library have wrong or incomplete MP3tag info, bad quality or missing cover art? This service will solve all of that, for 99% of your music and will allow you to keep all that music in sync over all your iDevices through iCloud. Furthermore it will legitimize your entire library, wherever that music came from.

What I find interesting on top of that is once you subscribe to that service; what is to stop you from ever buying from the iTunes store again? Just download the song you want in whatever crappy quality, iTunes Match it and you'll have it in great quality, fully tagged, cover arted and with iCloud privileges. That is until you've reached that 25,000 limit.

I don't really need the ability to stream my library without having it physically on my iDevices. Most places I listen to my music I don't have the bandwidth and or data volume available to stream 256 kbps music anyway. Not if I'm gonna be browsing at the same time!

 

[globalist]

A lot of people are not seeing the usefulness of iTunes Match. How many songs in your library have wrong or incomplete MP3tag info, bad quality or missing cover art? This service will solve all of that, for 99% of your music and will allow you to keep all that music in sync over all your iDevices through iCloud. Furthermore it will legitimize your entire library, wherever that music came from.

Umm, if that's the case them I really hope it first asks me - preferably on a song by song basis - if I really want to get that song and update the metadata from the itunes cloud.

I mean let's say I have a custom compilation album "The Very Best of 60s" and I don't want the Beatles' Let It Be track on it be tagged as being on the Let It Be album.

Also, I hope their audio data matching algorhithm is thorouugh enough to recognize outtake, alternate or mono versions of songs. Again, so as to not screw the local metadata which I've spent many hours perfecting.

 

[alistairroe]

What happens if you stop paying $25 a year after a few years, or switch to another device? Do your songs that you legitimised become unavailable on your devices?

 

[fiver55]

This can't be right...

True, but this part: What if I don't have cellular or wifi access? I can't listen to that music.

Think about it. If you can sync non-iTunes tracks from your computer and then download them again anywhere else, you just found the easiest way to share an entire library with any of your friends. Log into your iCloud account on your friend's Mac, sync his hard drive to your iCloud, log back in at your own Mac and download all the new files onto the Mac.
But then again, I guess this is not much different from putting all the music on an external hard drive and sharing that.

 

[OllyW]

What happens if you stop paying $25 a year after a few years, or switch to another device? Do your songs that you legitimised become unavailable on your devices?

Steve Jobs said there's no DRM on the tracks so there's no way they can stop them working. You'll just lose the ability to sync the tracks from iCloud to your devices if you stop paying the fee.

 

[kallisti]

There is no streaming. Lets say I download a song on my iPad, it goes to the cloud right? Well when I grab my phone, I will see it in iTunes, but if I want to listen to it I will have to download it from the cloud. Now it is taking up space on my iPhone.

I could have done the same thing if I synced my devices and just added the songs onto each.

All this service is, is a backup. There is NO streaming (except for photos, and even that has limitations)

Listen Im not expecting the streaming feature of music and photos for free or $25/year, but it should be an option. I was ready to pay $99/year for this, and I"m extremely dissapointed that this isn't even an option.

What about my iDisk now? I have 20gigs from mobile me, what happens to that?

You are wrong. iTunes match is a streaming service. The other aspects of iCloud are not streaming. But iTunes match is. From what you have written Apple provided EXACTLY what you wanted.

**Edit. Watched the keynote again. There is no mention of streaming. My bad. Apologies.

 

[Mike Oxard]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Have to say this one of the most entertaining threads on MR in a while...everybody needs to calm down and wait...how this will all work I'm sure will become much more clear in the coming days and weeks...anybody on here claiming they know exactly how this will all function from a practical sence are just talking out their ass. Until we have the full functionality in hand (or iDevices) nobody (outside of Apple) really knows how all these little details will work.

So in summery everybody needs to put their heads down on their desks, take a few deep breaths, and calm down.

 

[Centient]

Steve Jobs said there's no DRM on the tracks so there's no way they can stop them working. You'll just lose the ability to sync the tracks from iCloud to your devices if you stop paying the fee.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this for some reason. Help me out here.

I see what you're saying about maintaining the annual $25 fee to continue to access converted music. However I'm getting confused when Steve said the converted tracks would be treated just like iTunes purchased tracks and "pushed" to your device. I take "push" to mean downloaded, which makes me think you retain the copies of the converted tracks even if you don't re-up with the iTunes Match service.

 

[jonnysods]

For $25 a year Apple have dragged everyone into their ecosystem of purchasing songs. How could the labels not be excited about that? And now they are getting more and more used to the iTunes store, and then will be ready to use the Mac App Store.

Genius. And, I will be using the $25 service when it comes to Canada!

 

[NachoGrande]

I only have about 50-100 songs max that were ripped, it would just be cheaper for me to redownload the songs I want and just toss the other crap I don't listent to.

The need to have a onetime match service to make it worth it.

 

[samcraig]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this for some reason. Help me out here.

I see what you're saying about maintaining the annual $25 fee to continue to access converted music. However I'm getting confused when Steve said the converted tracks would be treated just like iTunes purchased tracks and "pushed" to your device. I take "push" to mean downloaded, which makes me think you retain the copies of the converted tracks even if you don't re-up with the iTunes Match service.

I think it will take some trial/error and people using it to determine for certain. It is confusing. If you actually get copies of the tracks using "match" - then most people really could get the service for one month and never really need it again.