Summary: In this post, we shall be studying the differences and crossovers between these two iCloud music-streaming services(iTunes Match and Apple Music) in order for you to know the one that suits you best.
- Part 1: What is iTunes Match?
- Part 2: What is Apple Music?
- Part 3: The Difference between iTunes Match and Apple Music
- Part 4: How to Enjoy Offline Music without iTunes Match and Apple Music
Part 1. What is iTunes Match?
iTunes Match is an iCloud-based music streaming service that adds all your music to the iCloud Music Library using iTunes on a Mac or PC. Hence, iTunes Match gives you access to all of your music; songs that you’ve imported from other sources such as Android smartphones, CDs, recordings, voice notes, etc. on all your devices.
Download macOS Catalina for an all‑new entertainment experience. Your music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, and audiobooks will transfer automatically to the Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books apps where you’ll still have access to your favorite iTunes features, including purchases, rentals, and imports. In iTunes on your Mac or PC, create a Smart Playlist (we named ours “Upgrade Bitrate”) that matches the following conditions: – Bit rate is less than 256kbps – Media Kind is Music.
If you want to subscribe to iTunes Match, you’ll need to have iTunes 10.5.2 and above on your Mac or PC.
Features of iTunes Match:
- iTunes match can help you to access your songs and playlists on other devices with iCloud Music Library turned on.
- You can easily get access to your iCloud Music Library by signing in to any iOS device, Mac or PC using the same Apple ID that you used with iTunes Match.
- iTunes Match will upload your Music to iCloud and let you stream them online vial iCloud Music Library.
- iTunes Match is limited to 100,000 songs, 200MB of file size, and 2 hours of file length.
- Songs containing DRM (Digital Rights Management) won’t match or be uploaded to iCloud Music Library.
- A yearly subscription fee of $25 is required to keep using iTunes Match.
Part 2. What is Apple Music?
If you have an Apple Music subscription, you are entitled to all the benefits of iTunes Match, and additional access to the entire Apple Music catalog. Hence, with a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 for a single membership plan, you are entitled to get the features and benefits Apple Music offer: Apple Music streaming, Beat 1 radio and Connect social network.
Features of Apple Music:
- Apple Music has the greatest and most robust collection of music on the planet.
- It offers five subscription/membership plans: monthly individual subscription, annual individual subscription, family subscription, student subscription, and Android smartphone user subscription.
- Apple Music App offers you access to millions of songs, music recommendations, curated radio, and playlists.
- With Apple Music subscription, you can access your Music across all your mobile and desktop devices.
- With Apple Music membership, you can download music to listen to offline.
Part 3. The Difference between iTunes Match and Apple Music
Features under Comparison | Apple Music | |
---|---|---|
Price |
| |
DRM (Digital Rights Management) | Music files you can stream through iCloud Music Library when using iTunes Match will stop playing immediately your subscription expires. | Every offline music you downloaded from Apple Music is trapped in DRM and would stop playing immediately your subscription ends. |
Limits to Songs | iTunes Match is limited to 100,000 songs, song files smaller than 200MB, and songs less than 2 hours of play time. |
Nevertheless, Apple Music and iTunes Match may seem the best bet on streaming music online because you are yet to hear their restrictions and limitations. It’s pertinent to mention that Apple Music files that you download to play offline will be invisible immediately the subscriptions expire.
Part 4. How to Enjoy Offline Music without iTunes Match and Apple Music
iTunes Match and Apple Music are too expensive to maintain, but that’s not the painful side to it. The most painful this in using these music-streaming services is that you don’t get to keep your music files when the subscription expires. This policy has affected too many iTunes Match and Apple Music users who could not afford the subscription fee anymore.
However, there is a way to upload a limitless number of music files to iPhones, iPads, or iPod touches without Apple Music or iTunes Match, and that tool is iMyFone TunesMate.
iMyFone TunesMate can help you to transfer music to your iPhone from iTunes, PC, flash drives, CDs, Android smartphones, Windows phones, Blackberry devices, and other music devices. This app doesn’t set any form of limit or restriction to music transfer between iOS devices and iTunes/PC/Mac.
Key Features:
- iMyFone TunesMate can sync multiple iTunes libraries to iOS devices.
- TunesMate can rebuild damaged and corrupt iTunes Libraries.
- TunesMate can transfer every type of Media files that iTunes Match or Apple Music can’t support.
- You can create Ringtones from your desired songs suing TunesMate.
Steps to transfer an unlimited number of songs from iTunes libraries to iPhone:
Step 1. Connect your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable.
Step 2. Click the “Transfer iTunes Media to iDevice” tab on the Home interface.
Step 3. After the scans, your entire iTunes library will be ticked for export. You can unmark some or click “Transfer” to transfer them to your iPhone.
Therefore, there is no need of wasting your money on iTunes Match or Apple Music monthly or weekly subscription fees. Just download and install TunesMate to start enjoying unlimited music on the go.
Apple Music and iTunes Match are two subscription services of Apple. Apple Music and iTunes Match both put your music in the Cloud and make it available on many devices. Given that they're so similar, many people were confused about the difference between Apple Music and iTunes Match. And which is the best Apple Music service to use? Or, if you have one, is it necessary to get another one? This article is mainly talking about Apple Music and iTunes Match.
Both Apple Music and iTunes Match can put your iTunes in the Cloud, and make use of iCloud Music Library in subtly different ways. Each of them offers specific features and limitations, and they can even be used simultaneously.
Price
Apple Music costs $9.99 per month (you can try it free for three months). There's a family plan for $14.99/ month providing service for up to six family members. All you need to do is set up iCloud Family Sharing on your iOS device or Mac and invite family members to join the group. (Android users can be part of your family membership, too.)
iTunes Match is a $24-per-year service that stores all your music in iCloud—even songs imported from CDs or not purchased in the iTunes Store—and make it available on up to 10 of your devices and computers.
Usage
Essentially speaking, Apple Music is a music streaming service, and iTunes Match is Cloud backup.
Apple Music lets you have a free trial for three months. After subscribing to Apple Music membership, you can play any track in Apple Music if you have a data connection. You can download any music from Apple Music and listen to it offline.
Besides, you also gain access to Beats 1 radio station and a limited selection of TV and Films, which are music-related videos and a few programmers Apple has made. Please note that after you unsubscribe` from Apple Music, the downloaded tracks before will no longer be available.
To use iTunes Match, you sign up for the service using your Apple ID and enable it on all the computers and devices on which you want to use it. If you subscribe to iTunes Match, you can access all your musical content via the Cloud. It will store all music, including the tracks you have imported from CDs and purchased elsewhere, in your computer's iTunes library up to Apple's servers and accessible to any of your iOS devices or computers running iTunes.
Apple Music & iTunes Match: Limitations
The most significant difference between Apple Music and iTunes Match is that Apple Music can't own the music they downloaded through the service because of DRM (digital rights management) protection. Songs from Apple Music can only be accessed while you have an active subscription. When you cancel your subscription, the music goes away.
With iTunes Match, songs added are made available to your other computers or devices in 256 Kbps AAC. Thus, any of the songs that you save offline are available to play, even if you cancel your subscription, you can still keep all the music you had before signing up.
Extra Tips: Is It Possible to Convert Apple Music to MP3
Apple Music Converter is a professional Apple Music conversion software. It is specially designed for you to convert Apple Music songs, iTunes purchased tracks, iTunes and Audible audiobooks to MP3, AAC, FLAC or WAV without loss in audio quality.
Step 1 Download and install the Apple Music Converter
Download, install and launch the latest version of Apple Music Converter on your computer. Before started, please make sure you have downloaded Apple Music you want to play in your iTunes.
Step 2Import Apple Music Songs to Sidify
You can click '+' button, and select tracks from the pop-up iTunes library then hit OK. All the selected tracks will be loaded in the main interface.
The program supports converting files in batch, so you can import multiple Apple Music tracks at the same time.
Soundcloud app for mac. Step 3Set the output format
Apple Music originally comes with M4P format encoded in 256kbps. With Sidify, you can choose MP3, AAC, FLAC and WAV as output format by clicking Settings button or gear icon at the upper right of Sidify. Besides, you can set the output audio quality to the highest 320 kbps.
Step 4Start to Convert Apple Music songs
Click Convert button, the program will start to convert Apple Music songs. Few minutes later, you can get the free Apple Music files from the history option.
With Apple Music Converter, you can easily convert Apple Music songs to MP3. Now you can enjoy the Apple Music files freely.
Note: The free trial version of Apple Music Converter converts the first three minutes of each audio file. If you want to unlock the time limitation, you can purchase the full version of Apple Music Converter from $14.95.
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