TeddyK
on - last edited on by
ElizabethS
Earlier tonight, Apple announced that iTunes Match, the cloud-based service that allows you to stream any music you have that matches what’s available on the iTunes Store, is now available in Canada.
On the heels of iCloud finally coming with iOS 5 in October, iTunes Match was initially rolled out to the U.S., but finally crossed the border to the Great White North. Match is essentially a paid extension of iCloud in that you can stream more of your music seamlessly for an annual fee of $27.99.
The way this works is that iTunes filters through your iTunes library and determines which songs are available in the iTunes Store. The ones that match are added to iCloud automatically, whereas you would have to upload the non-matching ones yourself manually. Apple figures that its 20-million strong song list in iTunes is large enough to match most, if not all, of what you have in your collection. True, 20 million is a lot, but iTunes doesn’t have everything.
With the process done and the music in iCloud, you can stream and store it on any compatible device, be it an iOS device, a Mac or Windows PC. Interestingly, the songs that are matched are also automatically moved to iTunes quality, which are AAC files at 256kbps bitrates, and of course, DRM-free. So, in other words, if you have a crappy MP3 of a track, and it matches one on iTunes, you get to enjoy the better copy. Not bad for customer service.
What’s not immediately clear, however, is what exactly has to “match”. Is it just the song, artist and album title or does the genre need to be right too? I’ll have to find out for sure when going through the process.
Oh, and it’s also worth noting that Apple is limiting the number of non-iTunes tracks you can upload to 25,000, which also includes songs you ripped from CDs. Also, “uploading to iTunes Match doesn't change anything in your music library, unless you choose to download from the cloud and replace the original tracks”, according to Apple’s press release.
Apple TV owners should also note that TV shows can also be re-downloaded through the device, so iCloud comes into play with Apple’s set top box too.
You must be a registered user to add a comment here. If you've already registered, please log in. If you haven't registered yet, please register and log in.