AppleInsider Staff
After a nearly two-and-a-half year wait, Apple's iTunes Match has hit the shores of Japan, bringing cloud-based library matching to one of the few countries where users can purchase music through iTunes but not sign up for the service.
With the latest expansion of services, Apple has iTunes Match operating in some 116 countries, according to the company's iTunes availability webpage.
Like its U.S. counterpart, the Japanese iTunes Match allows users to match songs in their music library, including media from CD rips and other sources, with high resolution versions from iTunes. Up to 25,000 tracks can be stored in iCloud — more if songs are purchased through iTunes — and users can access them from any connected device.
While U.S. iTunes Match subscriptions go for $24.99 a year, international users usually have to pay a premium to access the service. Japan is no exception as current pricing stands at 3,980 yen, or roughly $39 at today's exchange rate.
Apple last expanded its iTunes Match coverage in December when the service rolled out in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Mike Wuerthele
14 Comments
Just waiting for iTunes Radio, now.
I could never quite get what iTunes Match is all about.
It allows you to download? / Stream ? music that iTunes see if you already have the CD ripped MP3 in your HD.
What does it prevent people to BiTorrent thousands of CD Ripped MP3s and get the advantage of iTunes Match for only $30 / 40 a year?
[quote name="ksec" url="/t/179018/apples-itunes-match-finally-arrives-in-japan#post_2525966"]I could never quite get what iTunes Match is all about. It allows you to download? / Stream ? music that iTunes see if you already have the CD ripped MP3 in your HD. What does it prevent people to BiTorrent thousands of CD Ripped MP3s and get the advantage of iTunes Match for only $30 / 40 a year? [/quote] 1) Why assume it's goal is to prevent people from torrenting music? 2) It's only $25/year in the US. 3) I use it because it allows me to have all my songs (all at 256kbps AAC) without having to use an excessive amount of space to store them. It means I don't have to micromanage what songs I keep on my phone. I can store the most played tracks locally (and some others) and then keep most of the rest as reference files to my iCloud account ready to play when in the mood without feeling like I'm forgetting something. I get to save $200 a year on an iPhone this way. I also don't even use my Mac's space for my songs in iTunes, just the same reference files to iTunes Match.
[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/179018/apples-itunes-match-finally-arrives-in-japan/0_100#post_2525968"] 1) Why assume it's goal is to prevent people from torrenting music? 2) It's only $25/year in the US. 3) I use it because it allows me to have all my songs (all at 256kbps AAC) without having to use an excessive amount of space to store them. It means I don't have to micromanage what songs I keep on my phone. I can store the most played tracks locally (and some others) and then keep most of the rest as reference files to my iCloud account ready to play when in the mood without feeling like I'm forgetting something. I get to save $200 a year on an iPhone this way. I also don't even use my Mac's space for my songs in iTunes, just the same reference files to iTunes Match.[/quote] Do you have any CDs ripped? Do you notice any difference in quality if you do? Will we ever get iTunes Radio in England? Maybe I should become Japanese.
[quote name="Benjamin Frost" url="/t/179018/apples-itunes-match-finally-arrives-in-japan#post_2525979"] Do you have any CDs ripped? Do you notice any difference in quality if you do?[/quote] All my CDs are from many, many years ago. I converted most of them as ALAC but I can't hear the difference so why waste the space. 256kbps AAC is good enough for me although I'm curious about better than CD and iTMS quality that is rumoured to be coming to iTunes.