Australians didn’t have to wait long to get access to Apple’s music matching service, with iTunes Match going live this morning for all Australians.
Launched last month in America, the service promises to match your music library of up to 25,000 tracks with Apple’s own, offering you 256Kbps AAC versions of your tracks, even if the quality you originally had them in was lower.
For instance, a CD you ripped into MP3 format years ago in 128Kbps will become instantly better once it’s linked to iTunes Match, as Apple will offer a much higher quality 256Kbps track.
Priced at $34.99 per year, it’s an easy way to make sure your music can be downloaded whenever you go, and if you’ve got an iPad or iPhone, it can be done without a computer right through the Music app on those devices.
It’s also an easy way to clear your sins, so to speak. If you’ve ever downloaded media through nefarious means, iTunes Match essentially legitimises that.
An update of iTunes is likely, however, as we were forced to jump to 10.5.2 on Mac, but if you’ve been keeping everything fresh, just look for the iTunes Match in the side of your iTunes app.
Above: What iTunes Match looks like when it’s matching your songs.
