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iTunes Match launches in 19 more countries, shows Latin America some love from the cloud
Once Apple let the iTunes Match genie out of the bottle it has actually been pretty quick to spread the love to our international friends. Australia, Canada, the UK and a host of other European nations came online last month, now a sizable chunk of Latin America (along with a few EU stragglers) are joining the party. In total, 19 new countries were added to the list this week, headlined by Central and South American nations like Argentina, Guatemala, Venezuela and Nicaragua. With a few Eastern Block countries, including Lithuania and Latvia, also being added to the list, Apple has increased the total number states where iTunes Match is available to 37. Now Apple just has to start getting a few of the Asian and African areas where the iPhone is available on board and it can officially call Match a global service. To see if your country is invited hit up the more coverage link.
iTunes Match to open to more Latin American countries, Europe
A check of the iTunes Match availability page shows that Apple has launched the service in 19 new countries, with focus on Latin America and Europe. As of today, Apple has enabled iTunes Match for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. That takes the total number of countries with availability to 37. Additionally, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands now have access to iTunes in the Cloud compatibility for music and music videos, a first for those customers. Enjoy, folks! [Via MacRumors]
iTunes Match rolls out to international community, makes music lovers flinch
Thought you'd have to wait until 2012 to snag an international iTunes Match account? Think again. It seems Apple ended its negotiations with British record companies earlier than expected, as the outfit prematurely launched the music matching service on Wednesday, pulled it and refunded early subscribers, and finally relaunched a fully functional Match to the international community on Thursday. Users from the UK, Australia, Canada, France, the Czech Republic and other countries are now reporting that the service is live, appearing in the iTunes Store and fully functional. If the US rollout was a little late, we certainly don't mind the international debuting a tad early.
iTunes Match (actually) going live internationally
iTunes Match went partially live internationally in several markets on December 15, with iTunes accounts in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, and other countries offering iTunes Match signups in users' account preferences. However, that launch appeared to be premature, since iTunes Match wasn't advertised on the main page of those countries' iTunes Stores and signing up for iTunes Match didn't actually do anything. Apple began offering refunds to customers who signed up for the service after its premature launch, but only hours later the service has indeed gone live, with links appearing on the main page of the iTunes Stores in countries where the service has launched. The above screenshot is from the New Zealand iTunes Store, and clicking on the iTunes Match link immediately offers the expected signup option. International users are reporting that iTunes Match is now operating as expected, so after 18 hours or so of confusion the international launch does indeed appear to be underway. Apple has not yet updated its international sites to include information on iTunes Match as of this writing, but unlike yesterday international users are successfully using the service after signing up for it.
Apple refunds iTunes Match purchases for international users after premature 'launch'
Although options to sign up for iTunes Match started appearing in several international markets yesterday, many suspected that the launch was premature since iTunes Match wasn't showing up on the main page of respective countries' iTunes Stores. It turns out the "launch" was indeed premature, as iTunes Match remains unavailable outside of the United States and Brazil. Users who signed up for iTunes Match in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and other markets where the service was prematurely unveiled will be offered refunds for the signup fee, according to iPodNN. International users who signed up for the service were justly concerned that since iTunes Match is a yearly subscription, an unknown portion of their first year's subscription would be essentially invalid; the refunds Apple is offering address this concern. It's unclear why iTunes Match was kind of but not really launched internationally, but it does at least confirm that Apple is working on expanding the service to markets beyond those where it's currently available. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how long it will be before iTunes Match officially launches internationally, but here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.
iTunes Match international rollout begins (updated)
Update: GigaOM reported that the rollout was premature. Those outside of the US and Brazil who successfully signed up for the program will have their money refunded, and Apple has told these customers that Match will not function outside of those countries. iTunes Match has started rolling out in markets outside the US. International users have said that signups are now available in the UK, parts of Europe, and Australia. Here in New Zealand, I can confirm directly that iTunes Match is available as a signup option in my NZ-based account, for a fee of NZ$39.99 per year (compared to the US$24.99 per year it costs in the US store). Signup links aren't showing up in the main pages of the iTunes Store for international users; instead, you have to navigate to your "Account" page to see an option for the signup. Some sites, such as Mac Rumors, have suggested this means iTunes Match has been accidentally revealed early to international users and therefore may not function as expected. UK users will pay £21.99 for the service, while Europeans will pay €24.99. Australian users pay similarly higher fees at AU$34.99 per year. iTunes Match allows users to mirror their entire iTunes libraries in the cloud, enabling near-instantaneous playback/download of any song in the user's library on any connected device.
iTunes Music, Movies stores arrive in Latin America
The iOS App Store and the Mac App Store have been getting a lot of press lately. Now it's time to for the iTunes music store to share the spotlight. Starting this week, iTunes music and movies are available in Brazil and 15 other Latin American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. The store will launch with 20 million songs and over a thousand movies for purchase or rent. Brazil has the added honor of being the first country in Latin American to have iTunes Match. For US$25 per year, Apple's iCloud-linked service scans your iTunes library, matches songs and makes them available in the cloud. You can then download the songs to your iOS device on demand. [Via MacRumors] Show full PR text Apple Launches iTunes Store in Brazil & Latin America World's Number One Music Store Kicks Off with All Major Labels & Thousands of Indies SAO PAULO, Brazil-December 13, 2011-Apple® today announced the launch of the iTunes Store® in Brazil (www.itunes.com/brazil) with an incredible selection of Brazilian and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels. Launching with a catalog of over 20 million songs, the iTunes Store in Brazil features local artists including Ivete Sangalo, Marisa Monte and the digital debut of Roberto Carlos' catalog, available to purchase and download along with a wide range of international artists including the Beatles, Rihanna, Coldplay and thousands more. With most songs priced at 99 cents and most albums at $9.99, the iTunes Store in Brazil is the best way for iPad®, iPhone®, iPod®, Mac® and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online. The iTunes Store in Brazil offers over a thousand movies to rent or purchase, with many in stunning HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. The iTunes Store in Brazil now joins the revolutionary App Store™, which offers more than 500,000 apps to consumers in 123 countries, reaching hundreds of millions of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. Customers have downloaded more than 18 billion apps to date. Apple is also bringing the iTunes Store to 15 additional Latin American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. The iTunes Store in Brazil and Latin America offer music from major labels EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music, and thousands of independent labels. All music on iTunes® comes in iTunes Plus®, Apple's DRM-free format with high-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes in the Cloud lets you download your previously purchased iTunes music to all your iOS devices at no additional cost, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all your devices. In addition, music not purchased from iTunes can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match℠, a new service that upgrades your music to iTunes Plus when matched to the over 20 million songs in the iTunes Store catalog. iTunes in the Cloud is available today for free in Brazil and Latin America and iTunes Match is available today for a $24.99 annual fee in Brazil. Pricing & Availability iTunes 10.5.1 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download from (www.itunes.com/brazil). iTunes Store purchases require a valid credit card with a billing address in country. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
Piper Jaffray: iTunes Match likely breaking even for Apple
Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray believes that for all of Apple's success with iTunes Match so far, the company is probably still only breaking even on the service. Sure, $24.99 a year from all of the service's users is a lot of money flowing in, but there's a lot going the other way as well, from server costs to music royalties and all of the other charges with running such a complicated service. Munster believes there are 135 million active iTunes users in America, so if only a small fraction of those subscribe to the service, there's a nice chunk of change coming in to Apple. But at the same time, Apple isn't expecting huge earnings from Match; it's essentially a promotion to help get people into the iTunes system and a solid mechanism for keeping them there. Apple would much rather sell you devices to listen to your iTunes library, therefore it's not quite so concerned about how you get that music in the first place. As a result, Munster's guess that Match isn't a huge moneymaker for Apple is probably correct.
Talkcast tonight: One week of iTunes Match
Yes, it's time again for the TUAW Talkcast! We'll be live on our usual TalkShoe meeting place, podcast gods permitting, starting in just a couple of hours at 10 pm Eastern time. It's been a modest week for news, so we'll be diving into the biggest shift in digital music since the Moog synthesizer: iTunes Match What's working well, what not so well, and what not at all? Come on by with your experiences, tips and tricks and we'll run them down -- plus the usual gang of reprobates will be there. To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. We'll get started as usual around 10pm ET, which is 7pm PT. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients. Talk to you tonight!
One trick for getting iTunes Match to recognize older tracks
Welcome, iTunes Match users. After you've coughed over your 25 bucks and waited all night for your music library to reconcile with the great iCloud in the sky, you may have noticed those mysterious cloud status icons scattered through your tracks. Apple's tech note summarizes the icons; Macworld's thorough rundown gives more status detail and recommends that you add the iCloud Status column to your iTunes list view for diagnostic purposes. In my library, I saw a fairly substantial number of 'ineligible' icons, mostly on tracks that I had imported from my CD collection years and years ago. Some of my most vintage files show a 'Date Modified' in 1999, and were encoded into MPEG-1 Layer 2 (yes, an MP2 file) with MPecker or SoundJam MP (get off my lawn). Most of these, however, were recognized just fine by iTunes Match; more recent files seemed to have trouble. Checking the standards of the iTunes Match process, Apple's tech note shows that only certain music files are fit for matching. If your music was encoded below a bitrate of 96 kbps, iTunes Match will simply skip over it. When I took a closer look at my problem tracks, the issue was clear: in an attempt to save some disk space way back when, I had opted to go with variable-bitrate (VBR) MP3 files when ripping these CDs. This took somewhat longer, but kept quality reasonably high while creating smaller files. Present-day me is now somewhat irked with past-me; how to get these vintage tracks synchronized with iTunes Match? I figured out a way, which was independently pointed out by Lex Friedman last week. As Richard enthusiastically realized in June, one of the most helpful features of iTunes Match is how it 'normalizes' any tracks that exist in the iTunes store catalog up to 256 kbps AAC files, the same quality as iTunes Plus music that you buy from the store. While he was interested in lowering the storage requirements of his audiophile-friendly (and massive) ALAC files, this fix works in the other direction: getting low-bitrate or variable-bitrate files up to the standards of current-day digital music. Step 1: Sort your library by the iCloud Status or cloud icon column. Just click on the column name to sort the track list, and then scroll to the end where all the ineligible songs are. You can take this an album at a time, to keep it simple. In the image above, you see an album's worth of ineligible songs. You can click a track and choose Get Info (⌘-I) from the File menu to verify that the problem is inadequate bitrate. Step 2: Double-check your iTunes import/conversion settings. You'll find these under the iTunes preferences, in General, when you click the button marked "Import Settings." For our purposes, AAC 128 kpbs "High Quality" is fine, and chances are that's the default setting you already had. Click OK and close the Preferences dialog. Step 3: Select all the tracks in the album you want to iCloud-ify. Right-click or control-click any of the selected tracks and choose "Create AAC Version" (also available under the Advanced menu in iTunes). Watch the tracks convert before your eyes. Step 4: Once the conversion is done, you'll have two copies of those songs in your library: the older VBR tracks, and the just-converted AAC 128 tracks. iTunes Match automatically kicks in and begins scanning the 'new' tracks, and (since they now meet the minimum criteria for matching) they're matched! If they exist in the iTunes store, the iCloud versions of them will be the store's iTunes Plus 256 kpbs version; if not, they'll be the 128 kbps AAC versions you just created. You can tell the difference by looking in the iCloud Status column, which will helpfully say 'Matched' or 'Uploaded.' At this point, for your tracks with 'Uploaded' status, what you've got is what you've got: VBR originals and AAC re-conversions, which may be a bit lower quality than the source files. If you have the disk space to keep both, you can, or give the AACs a listen and see if they sound OK to you. The other alternative is going back to the CDs to capture those files at a higher bitrate. For the tracks with 'Matched' status, however, you can revitalize them to current standards by actually -- gulp! -- deleting your local copies and downloading the matched versions to replace them. Macworld has a walkthrough of using Smart Playlists to do this for the entire library, or you can go an album at a time if it makes you nervous to delete huge tracts of tracks (or if your Internet connectivity is metered and you can't safely download gigabytes of music at one go). Simply delete both your originals and your local matches -- careful NOT to check the box to delete from iCloud -- and note that the matched tracks stay listed, with a little download icon next to them. Click it to grab the full-glory version of the song back from iCloud, or optionally just leave it in the cloud until you need it again to save yourself some disk space. Got any killer tips for working with iTunes Match that you want to share with the world? Whisper them into our comments or hit our tip line.
iTunes Match goes live: sync up your entire music collection for $24.99 a year
It's a tad later than Apple's original "end of October" launch window, but the company has now officially rolled out its iTunes Match service to everyone with the iTunes 10.5.1 update. That will let you sync up your entire music collection with iCloud -- including songs and albums you've ripped from CDs -- which you can then listen to on any compatible device (i.e. an Apple device or a Windows PC with iTunes). In the case of songs already offered through iTunes, your music will simply be matched up with the tracks already available, and anything not offered will be uploaded, with everything offered in the usual DRM-free 256kbps AAC files. As expected, that convenience comes at a cost -- the service will run you $24.99 a year. You're also limited to 25,000 songs, although iTunes purchases don't count against that limit. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iTunes 10.5.1 available, iTunes Match opens up
Apple has released iTunes 10.5.1 for immediate download through Apple's site with iTunes Match available. It's not available via Software Update yet, and we will have the full changelog up shortly. iTunes Match is now available as a feature in iTunes and users can subscribe for US$24.99. It's listed as a beta feature, and beta subscribers are warned that their iCloud libraries will be deleted at the end of the beta. To thank beta testers for their participation, Apple is offering them an additional three months on their subscription. iTunes Match was announced alongside iOS 5 this summer and originally scheduled to debut at the end of October. Apple missed that goal, but the service is finally available as of today.
iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 released with more fixes for iTunes Match
Apple has released a third beta of iTunes 10.5.1 to members of its developer program. According to Apple, "iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match, and is a required update for all subscribers to iTunes Match beta." This beta update comes just after developers' iTunes Match libraries were wiped "as we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match," Apple said in an email to developers. This latest beta comes less than two weeks after the release of iTunes 10.5.1 beta 2, while 24 days passed between the release of the initial iTunes 10.5.1 beta and its successor. Accelerating beta releases from Apple are usually indicative of an imminent public launch, but it remains to be seen whether 10.5.1 beta 3 has shaken out enough of the bugs to warrant more widespread release. Once the service goes live to the public, users who pay US$24.99 per year will have access to virtually all of their music, anywhere, and anytime.
Apple email suggests iTunes Match launch soon
Apple sent out the following emails to developers this afternoon: iTunes Match Update As we prepare for the launch of iTunes Match, we will be deleting all current iCloud libraries on Saturday, November 12th at 10 AM PST. Please turn off iTunes Match on all of your computers and iOS devices. On your computer, choose Store > Turn off iTunes Match. On your iOS device, tap Settings > Music, then turn off iTunes Match. On your Apple TV, please choose Music > Turn off iTunes Match. The songs on your computer should not be affected. As always, please backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer. Best regards, Apple Developer Program Support Though Apple doesn't overtly say that the iTunes Match launch is impending, the email differs from others Apple has sent to developers in the past by mentioning a specific time for the deletion of developer's iCloud libraries and also states that it is "[preparing] for the launch of iTunes Match." On November 1st, Apple officially missed the release date for iTunes Match. They had previously said the service would be available "by the end of October." When iTunes Match does officially launch, it will cost users US$24.99 per year. The service will scan your iTunes library for titles, match them with copies in the cloud, and then allow you to replace whatever copy you may currently have in your iTunes library with a non-DRM, high-quality 256-Kbps AAC copy.
Daily Update for November 3, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple releases iTunes 10.5.1 beta 2, supports iTunes Match on Apple TV
It looks like despite the "end of October" launch estimate at the iPhone 4S event, iTunes Match still isn't quite ready for public release. Apple has released a second beta of iTunes 10.5.1 so developers can further test iTunes Match. The update addresses the usual "stability and performance improvements," but it also enables support for iTunes Match on the Apple TV. Beta testers have claimed that the previous iTunes 10.5.1 beta still had quite a few problems with regards to iTunes Match, so we should probably be happy that Apple "missed" its deadline instead of releasing iTunes Match to the public before it's fully baked. When iTunes Match is ready for public launch, the service will cost US$24.99 per year and allow users to store their music libraries in the cloud, including songs not purchased via the iTunes Store, with easy access to the entire music library from any device associated with the user's iTunes account.
Daily Update for November 1, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple has missed iTunes Match launch date
Did you notice this morning that it was November 1st? Did you also notice that iTunes Match isn't working yet? Yep, Apple missed a deadline date, having "promised" that the new iTunes service would be available "by the end of October." That date was set at the October 4, 2011 "Let's Talk iPhone" event by Apple's Senior VP of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue. iTunes Match is a US$24.99 annual feature that scans your iTunes library for titles, matches them with copies in the cloud, and then offers you the best possible recording to replace whatever copy you may currently have in iTunes. It acts as kind of an "online music locker" to store high-quality renditions of any music you may currently own. The feature has been in wide use by developers, who were asked last week to make sure that they turned off iTunes Match on their various devices before October 27th as the cloud data was going to be wiped. In addition, the beta version of iTunes 10.5.1 that contained iTunes Match expired yesterday, which was a bit of a shock to some developers who weren't happy about having to revert to an earlier version of iTunes. The service appears to be close to launch, as retail staff have been instructed in how to use iTunes Match, but they definitely missed the month of October as a deadline. As one commenter at The Loop noted, "Did they say what year?" Let's hope we don't have to wait that long for iTunes Match to finally make it to our devices.
Daily Update for October 13, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
iTunes 10.5.1 beta available for developers
A little more than an hour after the public release of iTunes 10.5, the beta of iTunes 10.5.1 with iTunes Match was pushed to developers. As commenters have noted, iTunes 10.5 disabled iTunes Match, so for developers who are testing the service, you'll want to head to the Apple Developer Center and grab the beta of iTunes 10.5.1. iTunes will most likely be updated to 10.5.1 when iCloud is formally released to the public on Wednesday.
