It seems iTunes Match subscribers will get unlimited iTunes Radio skipping

iTunes Radio (three-up, iPhone 5)

The song-skipping feature that long stalled Apple’s iTunes Radio talks with record labels could get a boost when iTunes Radio, which was announced at June’s WWDC, launches this Fall as part of theĀ iOS 7 refresh and iPhone 5S/5C launch.

Apple on its part hasn’tĀ definitelyĀ confirmed whether the free ad-driven serviceĀ will in fact impose a ceiling on the number of song skips akin to Pandora and other digital radio services.

For what it’s worth, iOS 7 Beta users currently can’tĀ bypass the song-skipping limit.Ā In my testing, for example, iTunes Radio wouldn’t allow me to skip more than six songs each hour per a specific station. But according to a new report, things could change come this Fall as Apple could enable unlimited song skipping for iTunes Match subscribers…

I found this bit in Mark Gurman’s report about AppleCare training ahead of iOS 7 launch:

Additionally, it seems that iTunes Match subscribers, in addition to receiving an ad-free experience, will be granted unlimited skipping abilities.

Internal training documents also indicate that iTunes Radio will featureĀ more than ā€œ200 genre based stationsā€ to choose from.

I’m an iTunes Match subscriber and unlimited song skipping isn’t live for me yet.

Apple’s iTunes Radio web page is mum on the matter apart from this passing song-skipping mention (emphasis mine):

Ask Siri to play any of your favorite genres or stations. Or pause, stop, or skip to the next song. You can even have Siri add songs to your Wish List for you to download later.

Costing $24.99 per annum, iTunes Match is a scan-and-match services that analyzes your iTunes library and lets you access iTunes Store-matched songs from any device – including those you’ve imported into iTunes.

So not only will iTunes Match subscribers get an ad-free iTunes Radio experience, but unlimited song skips as well – how cool is that?

FYI, there’s a workaround to the iTunes Radio song skipping limit: after you’ve skipped six songs on a specific radio station, simply startĀ streaming a new song from another station and then return to the previous station – works like a charm.