When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the coming of iTunes Match at June's Worldwide Developers Conference, there wasn't a single word about a long-awaited streaming-music feature.
For over a year, music industry sources told CNET that Apple had sought licenses from the four major labels to build a cloud music service that would allow the company to scan a user's hard drive, and then stream their entire music library from Apple's servers back to the user via any Web-connected device.
On Monday, the streaming feature finally poked its head up. Apple launched the iTunes Match developer beta, and included in that is the ability to stream songs. Apple described it this way:
One more thing: the licenses that Apple acquired from the four major labels earlier this year included the scan and match. Why the company didn't included it in the June announcement is unknown. Apple reps weren't available for comment early Tuesday. It would seem that TechCrunch's MG Siegler was right that this was a case in which Apple underpromised and overdelivered.
On Monday, the streaming feature finally poked its head up. Apple launched the iTunes Match developer beta, and included in that is the ability to stream songs. Apple described it this way:
iTunes Match stores your complete music library in iCloud, allowing you to enjoy your collection anywhere, anytime, on any iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or computer.Cloud music is supposed to save valuable storage space on users' mobile devices as well as give them ubiquitous access to their music libraries. The iTunes Match costs $25 a year (and scan and match up to 25,000 songs), and the feature also allows users to download songs to devices. Match is expected to be available to the public later this year.
Related linksThe ability to offer consumers a scan-and-match feature is what cloud music services from Google and Amazon missed out on by choosing to forgo licensing music from the labels. Instead, users of those services must upload to those companies' servers each of their songs, which can be laborious if a large library is involved.
• Apple gives devs early access to iTunes Match
• Tower Records to iTunes, NARM seeks revival
• Amazon offers unlimited Cloud music storage
One more thing: the licenses that Apple acquired from the four major labels earlier this year included the scan and match. Why the company didn't included it in the June announcement is unknown. Apple reps weren't available for comment early Tuesday. It would seem that TechCrunch's MG Siegler was right that this was a case in which Apple underpromised and overdelivered.
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