iTunes Match

It seems iTunes Match subscribers will get unlimited iTunes Radio skipping

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 29, 2013

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 the iOS 7 refresh and iPhone 5S/5C launch.

Apple on its part hasn't definitely confirmed whether the free ad-driven service 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't bypass the song-skipping limit. 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...

Apple exploring ways of letting users loan and resell “used” iTunes purchases

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 7, 2013

In a world of digital media, ranging from e-books to movies and music, consumers have often questioned the difficulty of loaning or selling their originally purchased items. In an exciting development, Apple has now developed a way to transfer digital content while also protecting the rights of the publisher.

In three patent applications filed in 2011 and 2012, Apple outlines a method similar to selling a house by transferring ownership of the front door keys, only for iTunes purchases. Driven by digital rights management (DRM), the process gives owners of apps, e-books, music and other digital items rights to loan and resell "used" items to other people...

Google Music rolls out iTunes Match-like scan and match feature to US

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 12, 2018

Google rolled out a new scan-and-match feature for Google Music, the search giant's cloud-based music store and storage service, to the US today. The feature, which was been available in Europe for a while now, will scan a user's music collection on their computer, and quickly rebuild it in the cloud for cross-device streaming. It's a lot like iTunes Match actually, except Google isn't charging for it...

iTunes Music Store goes live in Russia, Turkey and other countries

Cody Lee ∙ December 3, 2012

Earlier today, we passed along a report that Apple was going to be holding an iTunes event in Moscow tomorrow to celebrate the launch of its music store in Russia. Rumors have been circulating for some months now that iTunes Music was on its way to the country, and it appears they were dead on. Ahead of tomorrow's event, users in Russia are seeing the iTunes Music Store populate...

iTunes Match rolls out in Hungary, Poland and other markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

iTunes Match, Apple's scan-and-match music service (also doubling as a streaming service of sorts), is being rolled out in Hungary, Poland and several other markets, it's been revealed today. This is in addition to an expansion in late April that saw iTunes Match roll out in Greece, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria and other markets...

Amazon could soon match iCloud music features

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 13, 2012

According to "numerous industry sources", online retailer Amazon is negotiating deals that will soon enable it to match most of the music features offered by Apple's iCloud.

Amazon shocked the industry by launching its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player last year without necessary licenses from the top labels.

They are now reportedly close to striking license deals that will let them offer a scan-and-match service akin to iTunes Match...

New in iOS 6: iTunes Match now lets you either stream or download songs

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

One of the markedly little improvements in iOS 6 that many people originally missed is the ability to stream songs stored in your music locker in the cloud. When Apple introduced iTunes Match last August, much of the debate centered around the question whether or not it streams songs.

Though it appeared as if it did, Apple denied iTunes Match streaming. Semantics aside, iTunes Match in iOS 5 used to exclusively download and store songs on your device. With iOS 6, you can now choose to either stream a song as many times as you'd like or download it for offline listening...

iTunes Match goes live in new markets across the globe

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2012

iTunes Match, Apple's $25 a year cloud locker and scan-and-match music service, is being rolled out in additional countries, according to web reports. Last time we heard, Apple expanded iTunes Match to 19 countries, with a focus on the Baltic states, Latin America and the Netherlands.

Macstories first spotted that the iTunes terms and conditions for Italy have been updated with new terms suggesting an imminent launch in the country. Other web reports confirmed a similar changes to iTunes terms and conditions for Greece, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria and other markets...

Groove 2: the best universal music app for iOS

Guest Author ∙ Updated March 12, 2018

Groove 2 by Zikera is a perfect blend of beautiful design and enhanced music playback functionality. The developers describe it as "a music player that studies your listening habits and creates a wide variety of instant mixes like your own personal DJ." I have found this claim to be highly accurate and I haven't had to manually create an iTunes playlist since.

This universal app brings both a gorgeous visual design and an impressive set of features for listening to synced music on your device. If streaming radio isn't your thing, then you will be very satisfied by the Groove 2 experience. It's definitely worth downloading. Read on to discover why...

Apple working on “adaptive streaming” for audio

Oliver Haslam ∙ February 28, 2012

Apple is currently working on a new file format for its iCloud service, according to reports.

Writing for The Guardian, Charles Arthur cites sources with "inside knowledge" and claims that Apple is set to bring a new format to the music world which will allow for adaptive streaming of music from iCloud, with the quality being altered depending on the playback method.

Apple's iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match both rely on music being stored on servers owned by the technology company. Being able to alter the music quality as it is being distributed could potentially save in bandwidth costs for the end user...

‘iTunes in the Cloud’ goes live in Japan, iTunes Match to follow

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2012

It's been more than a month since Apple's last iTunes Match roll out, but it looks like the company is getting ready to launch the popular music-mirroring service in Japan.

Macotakara is reporting that Apple has flipped the switch on its 'iTunes in the Cloud' component for Japanese users, allowing them to view and re-download previously purchased music...