[iBradA5]

I'm very fuzzy on the iTunes Match concept. I can't seem to get a clear answer. If anyone here could give me any details I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[Peligro911]

You pay and then upload your library it matches to best quality they have and if not matched then uploads yours ...turn it on On the devices Then your devices will show your complete library
Play any song and it streams from the cloud

[mustangboy88]

Search YouTube. Lots of videos showing it in use. I personally use Google Music and bought Melodies in the App Store.

[email4nickp]

It matches your library so you can sign in on any iTunes enabled device (mac, iPhone) and have your entire library available to stream or download.

[vp710]

If I understand correctly: let's say you purchased music from Amazon or other retailers, ripped some CDs, or "downloaded" some music from elsewhere. Pay Apple $25/year and all this music will be matched and available for you to either download or stream from Apple's servers, and as such, will be part of your "official" iTunes collection. Unfortunately, iTunes Match has a limit of 25,000 tunes (and 10 devices which is okay).

[remipmc]

i believe the 25K limit is to uploaded songs, your "matched" songs do no count towards this limit.

If I understand correctly: let's say you purchased music from Amazon or other retailers, ripped some CDs, or "downloaded" some music from elsewhere. Pay Apple $25/year and all this music will be matched and available for you to either download or stream from Apple's servers, and as such, will be part of your "official" iTunes collection. Unfortunately, iTunes Match has a limit of 25,000 tunes (and 10 devices which is okay).

[warcraftWidow]

I think anything you didn't purchase from Apple and iTunes counts as part of the 25K limit regardless of whether they were matched.

[iBradA5]

It matches your library so you can sign in on any iTunes enabled device (mac, iPhone) and have your entire library available to stream or download.

I was under the assumption you could already do that through iCloud?

[warcraftWidow]

I was under the assumption you could already do that through iCloud?

Only for music, video purchased thru iTunes. iTunes Match makes it work with music added to iTunes but purchased elsewhere or ripped from cd.

Also music purchased in iTunes is always available in the iTunes app in the purchased tab and you can go there and download it to your device and then you can see it in the Music app. However if you have iTunes Match, the purchased iTunes music will show up in the Music app without having to go to the purchased tab in the iTunes app. And you can choose to play or download it directly from the Music app.

[drclayton]

I think I know the answer to this but since this thread is for learning purposes I am bringing it up....
I uploaded/matched all my songs on itunes match. Then say my macbook gets destroyed (the one with all my music on it) - can I be sure that when I buy a new macbook that I can download all my songs onto the new macbook? I havent really tried using other itunes devices except for my iphone to test this out.

[Ringfinger]

Okay, so I was looking at Google Play, why wouldn't everyone do that? It is free, just 99 cents for the app. What is the downside?

Also, iTunes match, can I buy one sub and use it on two different phones? I assume it is just linked to apple user id? So long as you are logged in on that ID on your phone for iTunes&App Stores in settings it works? If that were the case, my wife actually has her own ID, how would I handle that? That wouldn't screw up our syncs when we do them to iTunes, right?

[warcraftWidow]

I think I know the answer to this but since this thread is for learning purposes I am bringing it up....
I uploaded/matched all my songs on itunes match. Then say my macbook gets destroyed (the one with all my music on it) - can I be sure that when I buy a new macbook that I can download all my songs onto the new macbook? I havent really tried using other itunes devices except for my iphone to test this out.

Yes. Assuming that you're iTunes Match subscription is current.

Although it never hurts to have a backup somewhere else.

[warcraftWidow]

Okay, so I was looking at Google Play, why wouldn't everyone do that? It is free, just 99 cents for the app. What is the downside?

Also, iTunes match, can I buy one sub and use it on two different phones? I assume it is just linked to apple user id? So long as you are logged in on that ID on your phone for iTunes&App Stores in settings it works? If that were the case, my wife actually has her own ID, how would I handle that? That wouldn't screw up our syncs when we do them to iTunes, right?

You can use iTunes Match on several devices such as phones, iPads, PC running iTunes, etc.

You could use 1 subscription and access it in multiple phones but both phones would have to be signed into iTunes on the phone with the same apple ID.

[Ringfinger]

You can use iTunes Match on several devices such as phones, iPads, PC running iTunes, etc.

You could use 1 subscription and access it in multiple phones but both phones would have to be signed into iTunes on the phone with the same apple ID.

Okay, so you can't do that with Google Play? I am not trying to sell anyone here, but I guess I am confused. Google Play is free. Why not use that?

As far as iTunes match, I see it downloads files to your iPhone but Google play will just stream, correct?

I also read:

What happens if I don’t resubscribe after the first year? Will I lose any upgraded songs?
No. Any songs you’ve upgraded or downloaded again are completely safe. The only thing you lose is the central storage — iCloud will no longer stream or download matched or uploaded songs to your devices.


So is this saying you can upgrade your whole library for $25 and no resubscribe? I thought the "upgraded" music was in the cloud, which you lose after you don't re-up. Is this saying the upgraded music is downloaded to your computer in iTunes when you do it or do you have to trigger such a download? This alone is a big point.

[warcraftWidow]

Google Play doesn't integrate with the native music app like iTunes Match. But yes if you upload music to it it will let you stream it on multiple devices. Not sure if it has a "matching" service or if you have to upload all your music. Something else to check on would be whether it lets you download music for offline use or is it always streaming. Also not sure if Google Play has a desktop app rather than the browser interface. I've used it in the browser and wasn't impressed with that part.

I'm too heavily invested on the Apple ecosystem to really change, but hopefully I've given you some questions to ponder and figure out what will work best for you.

[TurboTiger]

You can Bookmark Google Play ( play.google.com/music) and save it as an icon to your home screen.
This is how I access it on my iPhone & iPad

Good Luck

[mustangboy88]

You can download an app like Melodies in the App Store and it will let you cache songs from your Google Music

[Ringfinger]

Hey, on the iTunes match I was giving it a try and it seems to store album artwork locally on my computer? I have my library on an NAS and I would figure that is where it would go. Anyway, on my local harddrive I see a folder for album artwork and three subfolders called cache, cloud and download. What gives?

[robertk328]

I don't do much music on my phone but its nice to have access to that music from anywhere. Biggest reason I got it was all the CDs I ripped at less than 256kbps to save space way back when were upgraded automatically assuming they existed in the iTunes music store. I just re-upped for the extra backup/storage.

[Ringfinger]

Hey, on the iTunes match I was giving it a try and it seems to store album artwork locally on my computer? I have my library on an NAS and I would figure that is where it would go. Anyway, on my local harddrive I see a folder for album artwork and three subfolders called cache, cloud and download. What gives?

Anyone with an idea on this? And does match automatically search for artwork?

[warcraftWidow]

I don't think iTunes Match automatically searches for artwork but if you update any metadata about your songs including the artwork, then it should pick up those changes. If it doesn't do so automatically then try Store -> Update iTunes Match from the top menu.

Also I believe a lot of the metadata is stored in the iTunes library not as part of the mp3 or m4a files itself so that is probably why you see some of it locally. But I'm not certain about this.

[Ringfinger]

Gotcha, I'll try the update. You have been a tremendous help in all forums!

[Ringfinger]

Yeah, still not picking it up. Annoying!

[Heckler]

iTunes Match is fine as long as you're in WiFi range. If you travel a lot it really isn't worth it because you can't access your music without blowing up your data usage. Of course the alternative is to burn up your phone storage with music so...

[Ringfinger]

Gotcha. I just hate this whole artwork thing not working. Ugh!