One would hope, but so far the Match success rate of non-iTunes purchases is leaving something to be desired.
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iTunes Match Beta Now Available for Developers
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One would hope, but so far the Match success rate of non-iTunes purchases is leaving something to be desired.
Nope. I'm an iOS developer only and I have it. It's a new release alongside the regular iTunes beta. You can go in and download it just like any iTunes beta.
Curious then if the new iTunes beta is what "demotes" the computer to being just another device. Does it close the CD burning loophole? Are the downloaded mp4s of iTunes Matches accessible in the Finder or are they trapped inside iTunes (like on an iOS device)?
This idea of downloading 256kbps matching files "for keeps" of your old rips or torrents sure seems too good to be true. I've wondered if Steve got away with saying those songs would be treated "exactly like" your purchased songs because they are now changing/limiting the way they treat your purchased songs. Not accessible from Finder (i.e. not copyable) and not burnable would make the digital transition complete.
So that's the big question...when you download a song via iTunes Match, can you access it in the Finder and copy it say, to a USB drive? To keep forever? I'll believe it when I see it, but I just can't fathom Apple giving me thousands of 256kbps mp4 files for $25 when they've been trying to get me to cough up $600 the past 3 years to upgrade my older downloads to iTunes Plus.
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Having it "replace" the library on a mobile device would be perfect for an iPad or something that's not a primary listening tool.
However, I don't understand the benefit to this on my iPhone if I can't keep the music I manually sync and manage? How do I manage it from my computer? This is so confusing.
However, I don't understand the benefit to this on my iPhone if I can't keep the music I manually sync and manage? How do I manage it from my computer? This is so confusing.
Do you have to subscribe to it first, or does it let you see if they have copies of your songs available before you pay?
I have the same question. Although I'm usually weird about disclosing information, this seems harmless enough. As soon as my library is done being matched, I'll let you know if no one has answered your question yet. I too would love this to be an option.
Going off of what others have said though, with the music being downloadable and/or streamable, I'd say it is an option and the files should be accessible. If the Mac is another device now, then essentially the features should all be the same.
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The only option you have under the left pane as far as iTunes match is concerned is to subscribe, so I'd say no, you need to subscribe before you can access any iTunes match features.
Exactly...and have they downgraded the features of the computer to match the iDevices?
What I've been wondering since the announcement is, that if the Mac is now just "another device," will the new version of iTunes lock it down like the music players on other (iOS) devices. So you can stream/download the 256kbps files onto any device, but you can't actually access them in the file system, even on the Mac. It's just another device that syncs to iCloud the same way that iPods used to sync to Macs.
I'm OK with that system if it's the case, and won't be at all surprised if that's "the catch" that made the record labels agree to this whole thing. I have no need to swap files around or make CDs, taking it all to the cloud and seamless streaming/syncing to all devices is worth the tradeoff.
Well, "just another device" to a certain extent. Bear in mind that iCloud is only an optional feature. At any point I can turn it off on my iOS devices. My point being, not everyone will take advantage of iCloud, therefore, I don't see them removing all the features of iTunes. I think it's safe to say that it will remain the same at its core, but I can't say this with any absolute certainty.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)
So if you turn it off, what becomes of those 256kbps songs you matched and downloaded? Poof gone until you turn it back on and start over? Same question on the computer.
So close to finding out the answer if this service is a windfall of virtually free high quality file permanent replacement like so many seem to think, or if it all elegantly disappears when you turn it off or cancel your Match membership.
So if you turn it off, what becomes of those 256kbps songs you matched and downloaded? Poof gone until you turn it back on and start over? Same question on the computer.
So close to finding out the answer if this service is a windfall of virtually free high quality file permanent replacement like so many seem to think, or if it all elegantly disappears when you turn it off or cancel your Match membership.
Nope, just kept trying. But it failed again, so now I'm back at square one.
I'm sure it'll work properly in a few hours/a day, when everyone stops trying to match at one time.
Yeah, hopefully
. Now I keep getting about halfway through Step 2 (I have about 8,000 songs, before it randomly restarts.Oh well, guess I'll try it in the morning.
2 Questions not seen answered yet
1. I have high quality lossless AAC and flac in my main computer's itunes library. If I were to match these files... Does the icloud 256k version replace my computer's own higher res library on my hard drive? Or can I just have icloud for streaming use to my iphone?
2. Speaking of streaming... How is the stream over the 3G network? Is it possible or does it require wifi? If it can't stream over 3G, then I see no purpose to this service (at least in the beta stages).... thanks for the responses.
1. I have high quality lossless AAC and flac in my main computer's itunes library. If I were to match these files... Does the icloud 256k version replace my computer's own higher res library on my hard drive? Or can I just have icloud for streaming use to my iphone?
2. Speaking of streaming... How is the stream over the 3G network? Is it possible or does it require wifi? If it can't stream over 3G, then I see no purpose to this service (at least in the beta stages).... thanks for the responses.
iTunes Match does not replace any media on your computer. All it does is "Match" what's on your computer in the cloud so you can listen to the media on your IOS device.
Haven't checked out the 3G yet.
In iTunes you click on iTunes Match and it updates the media to the cloud. Including any changes you have made to your computer's data.
i have a VERY improtant question. (for me)
My music collection was wiped out when both of my externals crashed on the same day. It was a personal digital armagedon.
SO...though the tracks are gone forever, iTunes doesnt know this yet, and still thinks the files are there.
What is the iTunes match actually checking?
Just song titles? does it analyze the actual file?
Ive been waiting months to hear the answer!
Thank you kind beta testers!
My music collection was wiped out when both of my externals crashed on the same day. It was a personal digital armagedon.
SO...though the tracks are gone forever, iTunes doesnt know this yet, and still thinks the files are there.
What is the iTunes match actually checking?
Just song titles? does it analyze the actual file?
Ive been waiting months to hear the answer!
Thank you kind beta testers!
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Nope, just kept trying. But it failed again, so now I'm back at square one.
I'm sure it'll work properly in a few hours/a day, when everyone stops trying to match at one time.
I realize it's the first (?) beta release, but if the sync process is hanging this much with just the developers, I cringe at the thought of what it will be like when the iP5 releases. Sounds like a possible MobileMe disaster in the making.
Wow, I thought I had a lot of songs, but I only have around 13,000. Guess I'm a lightweight.
You have to have to have a credit card on file, even if you want it to charge your gift card balance. I did not have one on file, and it made me put one on, even though I had $75 in iTunes gift cards. However, after the credit card was there, it charged my gift cards, and I was able to remove the credit card.
1. The service isn't free.
2. Labels received $100 million payment in advance for this service.
I wouldn't worry too much. When they're only releasing it for developers they're probably not too fussed about a little server overload. When it's released to the public I imagine it'll be as smooth as it was when Lion was released.
I'm hoping thats the case. I went through it with MM and I was about ready to dump it. I didn't get a taste of what the speeds where like for the Lion download cuz I can't update until WD gets their head out of their arses and updates their firmware for my external drives so they play with Lion.
The thing that still has me a little worried though is that Lion was just a download. This is doing a bit more than that - there is going to be a lot of uploading and matching going on, plus the iP4 users upgrading to iOS5 that the servers have to deal with.
Guess we'll have to wait and see how
works their magic
iTunes will see the files aren't there anymore; if not already then for sure when you upgrade to iTunes 11 and it ports over your library.
What a load of crap Apple. I am a paid Apple Developer in the UK yet you deny me access to this feature. Not at all impressed.....