Apple Allegedly Discontinuing iTunes Match “In About a Month”

[benj4min]

I just got off the phone with Apple tech support. I recently resubscribed to iTunes Match and was thinking about moving over to Apple Music. I wanted to know if the matching system was the same as iTunes Match because they finally got it right. It works perfectly. Finally.

Anyway, the tech support lady said I should just subscribe to Apple Music because iTunes Match is ending in about a month...

I figured this was coming soon, but this is the first “official-ish” word I’ve heard.

Anyone else caught wind of this? I wonder what they’re gonna do with the iTunes Match subscribers who refuse to be pushed towards Apple Music? And if true, the iTunes Store can’t possibly be too far behind...

 

[Brookzy]

Are you sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding and she meant that your current subscription ends in a month and she was recommending Apple Music?

I doubt the rumour is true.

As to the iTunes Store, Apple has said repeatedly that it isn't going anywhere.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

Haven't heard of this yet. As said above, she might have meant your subscription was ending in a month, not the service as a whole.

 

[benj4min]

Are you sure it wasn't just a misunderstanding and she meant that your current subscription ends in a month and she was recommending Apple Music?

I doubt the rumour is true.

As to the iTunes Store, Apple has said repeatedly that it isn't going anywhere.

Haven't heard of this yet. As said above, she might have meant your subscription was ending in a month, not the service as a whole.

No misunderstanding. I just subscribed to iTunes Match 2 weeks ago.
I even said “Seriously?” to her, and she replied, “Yes, seriously.”

She could be misinformed, but she said it with great certainty.

 

[TiggrToo]

No misunderstanding. I just subscribed to iTunes Match 2 weeks ago.
I even said “Seriously?” to her, and she replied, “Yes, seriously.”

She could be misinformed, but she said it with great certainty.

Given Apple's notorious levels of security, I somehow doubt this low level employee would be privy to such information.

Now, we do know that Amazon are pulling their version in the next few weeks...

 

[benj4min]

Given Apple's notorious levels of security, I somehow doubt this low level employee would be privy to such information.

Now, we do know that Amazon are pulling their version in the next few weeks...

I mean, I thought the same, but her sureness was very surprising. If iTunes Match is being pulled soon, it wouldn’t be surprising that tech support already knows, or was even informed to tell customers that iTunes Match is about to be discontinued. I mean, I do understand that I’m part of a minority that has yet to fully embrace streaming, so maybe they see this info coming out as not a big deal...

*shrug*
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Given Apple's notorious levels of security, I somehow doubt this low level employee would be privy to such information.

Now, we do know that Amazon are pulling their version in the next few weeks...

And wow... I didn’t know about this. In my opinion, terrible, unfair move.

Apple would be amazing if they just made the iTunes Match service free for non-Apple Music subscribers. Just implement it automatically in iTunes. It’s only $25 for an entire year. How much would they really be losing...?

I’m a big music fan and I have many special editions of albums, indie albums, mixtapes, and b-sides that can’t be found on streaming services. I would hate for cloud access of that music to be taken away as a consequence of me not wanting to subscribe to Apple Music.

 

[mtneer]

Apple would be amazing if they just made the iTunes Match service free for non-Apple Music subscribers. Just implement it automatically in iTunes. It’s only $25 for an entire year. How much would they really be losing...?

Doesn't iTunes Match allow customers to launder their pirated music for DRM free songs from Apple's Cloud? I am not sure the RIAA would be happy if this was a default option free in iTunes...

 

[benj4min]

Doesn't iTunes Match allow customers to launder their pirated music for DRM free songs from Apple's Cloud? I am not sure the RIAA would be happy if this was a default option free in iTunes...

You could look at using it in that way, but I personally don’t do that and I’m sure that’s not how Apple intended it to be used.

 

[Tech198]

Don't think iTunes Match is going anywhere "for now" but since both Apple music and iTunes Match sorta do the same job, with the only difference one only works with Apple music catalog, and based on tags only for matching, while the other uses a better algorithm, perhaps Apple could eventually use pieces from one, for the other.

This would therefore "fix" Apple music. All Apple wold have to do is add an option in iTunes to say "Only match to the iTunes Store"

I reckon Apple will go down this path eventually.... but for now its probably "transition"

 

[bucksaddle]

Don't think iTunes Match is going anywhere "for now" but since both Apple music and iTunes Match sorta do the same job, with the only difference one only works with Apple music catalog, and based on tags only for matching, while the other uses a better algorithm, perhaps Apple could eventually use pieces from one, for the other.

This would therefore "fix" Apple music. All Apple wold have to do is add an option in iTunes to say "Only match to the iTunes Store"

I reckon Apple will go down this path eventually.... but for now its probably "transition"

Apple Music has used the same matching algorithm as iTunes Match for nearly 2 years now so there shouldn’t be any difference: https://9to5mac.com/2016/07/18/appl...-music-subscribers-identical-to-itunes-match/

 

[steve62388]

Well.. it won’t be ending to current subscribers in a month, you pay a year in advance. It might close to new subscribers though.

I’m not even sure if it would be all that practical to cancel the Match service. If Apple want to allow me to stream my own music via iCloud (to phone, TV or HomePod) then they need some sort of Match type backend otherwise they will have to store my library on their servers. That will take a lot of space when you multiply times all their users. And are they going to charge me for that storage?

Pushing me onto a service that costs six times the price (Match vs Music) when I have zero interest in Music’s additional features is not going to happen. I’ll just cancel my sub.

 

[benj4min]

Well.. it won’t be ending to current subscribers in a month, you pay a year in advance. It might close to new subscribers though.

I’m not even sure if it would be all that practical to cancel the Match service. If Apple want to allow me to stream my own music via iCloud (to phone, TV or HomePod) then they need some sort of Match type backend otherwise they will have to store my library on their servers. That will take a lot of space when you multiply times all their users. And are they going to charge me for that storage?

Pushing me onto a service that costs six times the price (Match vs Music) when I have zero interest in Music’s additional features is not going to happen. I’ll just cancel my sub.

Exactly. Agreed.

 

[slothinker]

I just tried to sign someone up for the $30/year "iTunes Match" service to connect their Music Library to their iCloud account and I cannot find a way to do this from a Mac in an iPhone. Perhaps I'm missing something. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The Apple Web site still describes how to subscribe to iTunes Match (as of 12/31/18):

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146