Overcomplicating iTunes Match

[ntrigue]

Suppose that the beta for iTunes Match improves greatly over the next month. Would paying for iTunes Match allow me to put 25,000 songs from my desktop to the cloud and then I'd be able to download them all to my new laptop in 256kbps with proper metadata? Do I retain these songs once downloaded or do I pay annually for the rest of my life?

I am essentially hoping to use iTunes Match to clean (artwork and metadata) rather than have to do it manually.

 

[Mascots]

You would be able to download all of your tracks back onto your Mac at 256kbps, however iCloud will hold onto the metadata you entered into the file from your original library and use that, instead.

As for retaining the files, once your iCloud subscription ends you only lose access to the cloud, meaning if you have all of your tracks on your computer (freshly downloaded copies from iCloud and/or originals) you won't lose the ability to play those. However, you do lose the ability to download existing tracks from iCloud (whether it be to your iOS device or Mac) and match new music. So, as long as you have a copy of all of your music somewhere off the cloud you will be fine.

 

[Tom8]

What happens to the songs that you have that aren't in the iTunes store? Does it give you the option to upload them to iCloud, or does it do it automatically?

I have loads of live sets from bands, and i don't want my 5GB to be taken up my audio.

 

[Mascots]

What happens to the songs that you have that aren't in the iTunes store? Does it give you the option to upload them to iCloud, or does it do it automatically?

I have loads of live sets from bands, and i don't want my 5GB to be taken up my audio.

It uploads them automatically. Your 5gb cap is for documents and other things stored in the cloud (like iOS backups and app data); you have a maximum of 20,000 songs via Match regardless of how much free space is left.

 

[Tom8]

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What happens to the songs that you have that aren't in the iTunes store? Does it give you the option to upload them to iCloud, or does it do it automatically?

I have loads of live sets from bands, and i don't want my 5GB to be taken up my audio.

It uploads them automatically. Your 5gb cap is for documents and other things stored in the cloud (like iOS backups and app data); you have a maximum of 20,000 songs via Match regardless of how much free space is left.

Oh, i was under the impression that for songs that weren't available on the iTunes store you'd have to upload them and that would be part of your 5GB. That is much better than I was expecting

Thanks a lot

 

[Dwalls90]

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Oh, i was under the impression that for songs that weren't available on the iTunes store you'd have to upload them and that would be part of your 5GB. That is much better than I was expecting

Thanks a lot

I'm raising a red flag on this one. I'm pretty sure that your music WILL count against your 5Gb allotment, if it's not matched/available on iTunes. Otherwise - no one would use the match service and would have unlimited free music storage of any type.

 

[Mascots]

I'm raising a red flag on this one. I'm pretty sure that your music WILL count against your 5Gb allotment, if it's not matched/available on iTunes. Otherwise - no one would use the match service and would have unlimited free music storage of any type.

Music does not count against your 5GB limit. You have a limit of 25,000 songs both matched and unmatched. The iTunes Match service is a requirement of storing songs in the cloud and there is not a way to upload the original files of matched music that are equal or less than 256kbps. Here is a prime example, I have about 20-30gb of music uploaded to iTunes Match, yet it doesn't show up on my iCloud limit:

 

[ntrigue]

The 5GB limit is for iCloud services that are free.

As soon as you pay for iTunes Match you may match "up to 25,000 songs" although a developer was able to use it on 27,000 songs.

I believe my question is answered. Any music identified by iTunes Match less than 256kbps will be available with iTunes metadata AAC and 256kbps for download. If a song is 257kbps or greater I use bandwidth to upload and the metadata stays the same.

 

[MurphyM]

The 5GB limit is for iCloud services that are free.

As soon as you pay for iTunes Match you may match "up to 25,000 songs" although a developer was able to use it on 27,000 songs.

I believe my question is answered. Any music identified by iTunes Match less than 256kbps will be available with iTunes metadata AAC and 256kbps for download. If a song is 257kbps or greater I use bandwidth to upload and the metadata stays the same.

I want to know what happens when you download a 256k via Match

A. What happens to your orig file? Deleted? Archived?
B. Does the new song file take the place of the original and assume all its meta data for things like ratings and play counts?
C. Is that file yours to keep if you never pay for Match again? (I've seen people say yes to that one)

 

[PNutts]

Would paying for iTunes Match allow me to put 25,000 songs from my desktop to the cloud and then I'd be able to download them all to my new laptop in 256kbps with proper metadata? Do I retain these songs once downloaded or do I pay annually for the rest of my life?

Yes and retain songs without paying annually.

Point of clarification: You only upload songs from your desktop that don't match in iTunes. If iTunes already has all 25,000 of your songs then you upload zero and can download all of them with proper metadata.

I'm going replace a bunch of old ones that were ripped at a lower bitrate when the world was young and harddrives were expensive.

 

[Dwalls90]

No one knows until the final release of iTunes and match.

 

[PNutts]

No one knows until the final release of iTunes and match.

True, unless you go to Apple's website: http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/

The one assumption is that the metadata is included. It's easier to believe that it is (as if you purchased the song) instead of assuming Apple has two sets of songs, one with metadata and the other without (or some way to strip it when downloading). The good news is we're two business days away barring and delays!

From the link:
Here’s how it works: iTunes determines which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to your iCloud library. Since there are more than 20 million songs in the iTunes Store, most of your music is probably already in iCloud. All you have to upload is what iTunes can’t match. Which is much faster than starting from scratch. Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it on any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality.

 

[DougFNJ]

Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality.

I wish Apple would put out a definitive idea of what it does when half your collection is burned in from CD's at 320 Kbps AAC

I like that the stuff I downloaded will automatically upgrade in bandwidth, but will it leave my higher quality music alone?

 

[Senseotech]

I wish Apple would put out a definitive idea of what it does when half your collection is burned in from CD's at 320 Kbps AAC

I like that the stuff I downloaded will automatically upgrade in bandwidth, but will it leave my higher quality music alone?

I recall listening to the WWDC announcement and it was stated that higher quality stuff was uploaded, but so far theres been nothing officially in print. If you'd asked that question yesterday, I would've deleted an Apple Lossless file and redownloaded it to confirm, but with the deletion today happening at who-knows-when, mine is turned off. I can say that previously, it would match 320k mp3 files and download 256k AAC files in their place, which I personally feel is an upgrade in quality.

 

[Diode]

Meta data is sort of kept - I haven't tried it to another computer to see what exactly is transferred.

But from Host Computer to an iOS device the following is completely transferred:

Song / Artist name etc
Rating

Changing the rating / song name on your computer (or rating on your iOS device) will change it "in the cloud" and propagate to all synced devices.

So far I don't see that play counts are updated though. Which is unfortunate since I use that for smart playlists.