iTunes Match: Revolutionary?

Apple rolls out the beta version of its new cloud-based music service — and delights fans with how easy it is to access iTunes on the go

iTunes Match will stream all of your music from the cloud so you don't have to bother transferring songs from your computer to your iPhone.
(Image credit: itunes.apple.com)

The surprises just keep coming from Apple. On Monday, the company released the beta version of iTunes Match, a cloud-based music service that allows subscribers to sync their entire iTunes music libraries to iCloud for $24.99 a year. Users will be able to access their music from iPhones, iPads, and up to eight other devices. The shocker, however, is that iTunes Match will also support streaming.... sort of. Details remain vague about how exactly Match works, and an Apple spokesperson takes issue with the word "streaming." But, as Eric Slivka at Mac Rumors says, Apple's complaint is semantic — iTunes Match essentially does stream music. How revolutionary is this?

Portable music listening will never be the same: This will be a welcome money-saver for iPhone-owning music lovers, says Jared Newman at TIME. Music gobbles up most of their iPhones' storage space, making streaming from the cloud a godsend. "Instead of getting a phone with more storage at a cost of $100, users can spend $25 per year on iTunes Match instead."

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