iTunes Match? I Have One Question.
Posted November 14th, 2011 @ 03:48pm by Erik J. Barzeski
iTunes Match debuted today. I don't care that it's "late" because I'm not sure I care to pony up the $24.99. My only mobile device is an iPhone. Though I suppose I can now play all the music on my MacBook Air, too, without actually copying my entire library over there.
My entire library is 12,700+ songs. So it's well under the 25,000 limit.
I suppose whether I buy it or not boils down to this: do you get to keep the 256 kbps DRM-free "replacement" songs that replace your copies if you don't renew? Or do your copies of the song still hang around on your computer somewhere?
I'm guessing it's A. And for a one-time $24.99 fee that alone might be worthwhile.
Donate Life
Posted 14 Nov 2011 at 7:20pm #
Short answer: Yes you can keep them.
Long answer: The 256kbps DRM-free "matched" copies do not automatically replace the copies you already have, in fact iTunes won't even offer them to you while they are still in your library. (Although the iCloud Status column will tell you whether they were Matched or Uploaded)
If you delete them (and don't tick the "remove from iTunes match" checkbox) you can then immediately download them again, at which point you have a "Matched AAC audio file" which is basically identical to a "Purchased AAC audio file". It won't go away unless you delete it (iTunes match subscription ending shouldn't impact this.)