Apple Releases iTunes Match Beta 9 to Developers

Apple released the 9th beta of iTunes Match to developers on Friday. The company said that the update includes, “a number of important stability and performance improvements” for the service.

iTunes Match is Apple’s cloud-based solution for accessing all of your music from any of your iTunes-enabled devices. With iCloud, users can access all of their iTunes purchases on any iTunes-enabled device for free, but iTunes Match extends that capability to music acquired elsewhere for $24.99 per year.

It works by scanning your library and matching your songs to music on Apple’s servers. Songs that Apple can’t match are then uploaded to those servers for you to access. This differs from the cloud-based services unveiled by Google and Amazon, which require users to upload all of their songs, a time-consuming process that some have found frustrating.

The service is currently under a controlled beta open only to developers, and this is the 9th version of the service to be released. Developers are warned not to delete music they’ve uploaded to the beta, as all iCloud libraries will be deleted at the end of the beta. Apple has also warned its beta testers to back up regularly.

As with the rest of iCloud, Apple is expected to release iTunes Match this fall. The company has scheduled an event titled “Let’s Talk iPhone” for Tuesday, October 4th, when we might also get more information on when iTunes Match will go live.

iTune Match Beta 9

iTunes Match Beta 9