iTunes Match now Launched in the UK

[vRS Carl]

£21.99 for a year

[rich83]

And how long will it take to upload my 60GB library? :-/

I don't really see the point in this... But feel free to fill me in on it's advantages

[vRS Carl]

It doesn't upload them.

It only uploads the songs that are NOT currently in iTunes. If they are in iTunes then they are automatically available DRM Free at 256KBPS even if the one in your library is of lower quality.

This for example means i can delete my iTunes Music library and run it from the iTunes Match for my MBP. I wouldn't do it for my iPhone as I'm not always in a 3G area so it would be difficult to stream a song.

It also acts as a backup service as iTunes are hardly likely (saving a massive EMP attack) to lose all there data.

[RedRobin]

.
Unless you want to access your whole music library from various mobile devices I don't see the point either. Backup is done free to external drives via TimeMachine.

[vRS Carl]

.
Unless you want to access your whole music library from various mobile devices I don't see the point either. Backup is done free to external drives via TimeMachine.

That is the point of it.

I theory you could delete all your music from all your devices and just stream it from the cloud. Assuming you always have an internet or 3G Connection

[RedRobin]

.
Personally, I only keep my music on my desktop Mac and don't have 3G on my iPad2 nor do I want to use iCloud. I don't even run any email on my iPad and it rarely leaves the house. But most typical users would want it. Internet and 3G connections are not as reliable as onboard the mothership Mac.

[Deako]

I've subscribed. Been waiting for this for ages. Its the reason i went for a 16GB 4S rather than higher capacity. Especially now you have the ability to delete albums from your devices as well.

Setup my matched service overnight. Only 1600 of my tracks couldnt be matched (compilations etc) and have now been uploaded into the Cloud as well.

Been testing it this morning, works faultlessly. Download an album from my library in a minute or so at very good quality. Finished with it, gets deleted, can download another or just queue a few albums to download. You also have access to your custom playlists from your iTunes library, and can choose to download all tracks in a PL.

I think its a superb system.

My only gripe, and its a small one, is having to go into settings to turn off the option to see all music in the cloud. There should be a toggle from within the music application to show all music, or just music downloaded on to the device. The ohter small problem is that i can see ALL album artwork from my entire matched Cloud library, even though i have only downloaded 1 album on to my device.

[andrewparker]

Unless you want to access your whole music library from various mobile devices I don't see the point either.

Sounds good to me. For example the other day I really wanted to listen to Magnificent Seven by The Clash. I knew I had it sat on my music hard drive at home, but it wasn't on my iPad or iPhone.

[vRS Carl]

I find it quite useful from iTunes as it now means that i don't have to have my external drive plugged in anymore to listen to my music.

I have just created a new library which solely is my iTunes Match library. All i do when i want to change is hold Alt as i start iTunes and then for the purpose of adding new songs etc i just go back to the library on the external.

[RedRobin]

It's obviously extremely useful but just not for me. I listen to so much music (and I mean listen and not just hear as background) that I don't even want it in my car while driving. So iTunes on my desktop Mac is sufficient for me.

I do the same as you, Carl, in that I keep all my Applications such as iTunes on my internal SSD but have created an 'iTunes Library 2' on my internal HD. I might move it to my new external drive when its enclosure arrives.