iTunes Match Beta Now Available for Developers

[Zeisen55]

sorry if this is a stupid question but...

is apple expected to launch the cloud service alongside ios5?

 

[Popeye206]

For the stuff I haven't ripped yet, can I just put in a CD, have it recognize, then download mp3 version on any of my machines? If so, I'm definitely signing up.

Hummm... that would be interesting. Then you could just use your CD as a verification of owning the music and have iTunes match it and add it to your iCloud library.

It would be interesting to hear if this may work.

 

[The Beatles]

I don't see how it wouldn't be helpful.

You can add and delete files on the fly.

You can "stream" music on your IOS device even if it's not on your IOS device.

It doesn't have to be downloaded to your IOS device. It stays in the cloud.

Your computer dies. You've got a high quality backup from iTunes to redownload.

You can rip a CD on your Mac, pick up your iPhone and see that the ripped CD is already there.

You do have to download. iTunes match isn't a streaming service. It's a downloading service.

Alright, i think i see. It just makes the syncing process easier. And to the poster that says iCloud streams, i'll look into that. I thought the files sync via download. I didn't know you can STREAM.

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[Aduntu]

I'd like to see a subscription service. $10 monthly for as much music as you can consume. That would be awesome.

Spotify does exactly that.

1. Pirate music
2. iTunes Match
3.???????
4. Profit!

<$3 a month.

That doesn't make it any less illegal.

 

[Popeye206]

sorry if this is a stupid question but...

is apple expected to launch the cloud service alongside ios5?

That is sort of what they indicated. I guess we'll see. A couple weeks of testing may hammer out many bugs quickly.

 

[crisss1205]

Two questions I have (which may not be answerable here, but I might as well try):

1. Will iTunes Match obviate the need for directly upgrading tracks to iTunes Plus? Upgrading my DRM tracks to iTunes Plus would cost me over $75, which is why I've never done it. Sadly, redownloading them from iTunes Cloud gives me DRM-laden tracks. But if I grab them from iTunes Match, they should be DRM-free 256 kbps.

2. How does iTunes Match handle playcounts, last played timestamps, etc? I've been suffering from a lack of music on my WinXP installation because I haven't figured out a way to share an iTunes library across Bootcamp partitions and have it backed up automatically. (I haven't found a no-cost way to reliably backup exFAT partitions yet.) I doubt iTunes Match will be of help here, but it might!

1) Pretty much, you can download the higher quality DRM free version from iTunes.

2) Well it uploaded all my playlists and play counts to iCloud and when I logged into iTunes Match on my empty MacBook Pro all my playlists and song counts were there.

 

[wackymacky]

Can somebody let me know how iTunes match actually matches the songs in your library?

Earlier this year I had to recover my iTunes library from a bad hard drive and some of my songs now end earlier than they should. I'm hoping iTunes match will let me replace those tracks, but if it matches by looking at the wave form I might be out of luck.

My understanding is:

iCloud and updated iTunes will let you re-download songs purchased in iTunes back to your computer free, without iTunes match. . (This may be limited to what you buy after iCloud's release, though I doubt it, as this feature already works for iOS apps.)

You will also be able to download these songs on up to 5 devices via the cloud (I believe this is initially only in the USA due to copy write issues).

iTunes match will keep a list of all the music i.e. ripped from CDs of non iTunes downloads. You will be able to then push these to other iOS devices, as a fully legal copy.

 

[frunkis54]

does it charge you already? it gave me a renew date of aug 29 2011.

 

[Peace]

Alright, i think i see. It just makes the syncing process easier. And to the poster that says iCloud streams, i'll look into that. I thought the files sync via download. I didn't know you can STREAM.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Think about this logically.

Lets say you have an iPhone 16GB.
Your Mac's music library is 20GB of music. Your iPhone already has 14GB worth of video,apps and documents on it.

How are you going to be able to play any music on your iPhone if there isn't enough storage on it ?

A+B=C

 

[WardC]

99% of my iTunes music is live DJ mixes or radio show rips....this feature is pointless for me.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

i thought u could stream already purchased songs without a subscription

Uh no.

Edit: Oh, yes if you've purchased from iTunes.

 

[Jeffrosproto]

Lets say you have an iPhone 16GB.
Your Mac's music library is 20GB of music. Your iPhone already has 18GB worth of video,apps and documents on it.

You're doing pretty good if you have 18GB of stuff on your 16GB iPhone!

And to answer your question, it's because it streams the content (song, etc) from the cloud, thereby saving nothing to the device's memory (save for a small buffer, I'd assume)

Also, does anyone know: will it charge your iTunes balance, or do you have to use your credit card? I would prefer it to take money from my balance.

 

[appleguy123]

Uh no.

You can when iCloud goes live.

 

[Peace]

You're doing pretty good if you have 18GB of stuff on your 16GB iPhone!

And to answer your question, it's because it streams the content (song, etc) from the cloud, thereby saving nothing to the device's memory (save for a small buffer, I'd assume)

Also, does anyone know: will it charge your iTunes balance, or do you have to use your credit card? I would prefer it to take money from my balance.

sorry. Make that 14GB on the phone. DO'H

Give this man a prize !!

 

[CLWelch]

99% of my iTunes music is live DJ mixes or radio show rips....this feature is pointless for me.

Well, Apple shouldn't have even bothered with it.

 

[Sedrick]

Image

What are you, a freakin' radio station owner? Isn't that like every record ever recorded since the beginning of time?

 

[RobertMartens]

How will it sync stuff in the New York subway?

Or in an airplane or cruise ship (unless you pay for wi fi).

Yeah what about Cruise Ships!

 

[tharris0101]

Stuck?

Mine is stuck on the matching portion for about a half hour. 0 songs checked it says. Is anyone else getting this? Is it just being overloaded?

 

[jaw04005]

99% of my iTunes music is live DJ mixes or radio show rips....this feature is pointless for me.

While your iTunes library does sound rather unusual, iTunes Match does upload music that can't be matched to your iCloud library.

 

[RobertMartens]

Think about this logically.

Lets say you have an iPhone 16GB.
Your Mac's music library is 20GB of music. Your iPhone already has 14GB worth of video,apps and documents on it.

How are you going to be able to play any music on your iPhone if there isn't enough storage on it ?

A+B=C

Good questions all

You are ready to go to the next level

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Does this service give you proper downloads even for pirated music?

 

[tdar]

Mine is stuck on the matching portion for about a half hour. 0 songs checked it says. Is anyone else getting this? Is it just being overloaded?

it's slow with all of us beating on it....but it will get there.

 

[bluebomberman]

99% of my iTunes music is live DJ mixes or radio show rips....this feature is pointless for me.

Man, do people really need to quip about how useless iTunes Match is for them?

Clearly, iTunes Match isn't for everybody. People with tiny music libraries, people with no Internet connections, people with no computers, and on and on...

The focus should be on what iTunes Match can and can't do.

 

[LaazyEye]

Mine is stuck on the matching portion for about a half hour. 0 songs checked it says. Is anyone else getting this? Is it just being overloaded?

Same here, mine goes about halfway and then freezes.

 

[benguild]

Hmm ...
I think I'm going to skip this for now.

It sound promising, but it's just not what I'm looking for. I want something that doesn't get in my way. If this replaces my manually selected iTunes playlists and files with whatever iCloud thinks I should have ... that sounds nice, except that it might be wrong.

Also, I have my iTunes perfectly organized on my desktop, which I would hate to have "retagged" by a third party.

Last, my MacBook Air does not have even close to enough storage for my music ... so this sounds like the best solution for it. However, I have an external USB drive that I can sync from my desktop for iTunes ... and I don't understand how to do both.

Meh!

I'm debating using my MacBook Air to setup iTunes Match instead. iTunes tells you to back up your music library first, eh?

So, sync it to my external drive to my laptop... opened the library there, and used that computer to setup iTunes Match.

But, can I disable iTunes Match on my Desktop? I want to "Match" songs on my desktop but not modify the library.