(Image source: Apple)
BY EVAN THOMAS
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
On Monday, Apple released iTunes Match, a $25-a-year cloud music storage system that syncs your iTunes library between multiple iOS devices. CNET explains.
“It will match your own personal music collection with the same tracks on the iTunes store, and it will also upload your remaining songs that can’t be matched to the iCloud. That allows you to listen to your entire collection anytime on your iOS devices... Once the iTunes Match service completes, you’ll be able to either stream tracks to your computer by playing them, or click on the download cloud icon to store them locally.”
If you purchase your music from iTunes, you can upload all of it. The service will synchronize up to 25,000 non-iTunes songs, as well. But Ars Technica reports-- if you’re over that limit, you’re out of luck.
“... iTunes Match's hard 25,000 track limit means those with extensive collections simply cannot take advantage of the service … if you have more than 25,000 tracks not purchased from iTunes in your library, the service simply refuses to let you sign up.”
Gizmodo says-- it’s weird that you can add music that didn’t come from iTunes in the first place.
“One of the surprising things about Match is that it doesn't seem to discriminate against your torrented or otherwise pirated files. How Apple got record companies to sign off on this is a mystery to me.”
There’s already enough demand to cause problems for Apple. Fortune says if you want in, maybe you’re better off waiting for a while.
“... iTunes Match … went live Monday morning and promptly became over-subscribed. Visitors were advised to come back in an hour. I'd give it a day or two.”
Apple says iTunes Match will sync music to up to ten different devices-- five of which can be computers.
Transcript by Newsy.
