Comparison of online music lockers
This is a comparison of online music storage services (Cloud Music Services), Internet services that allow uploads of personally owned or licensed music to the cloud for listening on multiple devices.[1]
There are currently three large services—Amazon Music, Apple's iTunes Match, and Google Play Music[2]—each incorporating an online music store (see comparison), with purchased songs from the associated music store not counting toward storage limits. Other than additional storage space, the main additional feature provided with an annual fee by Amazon.com and Apple is "scan-and-match", which examines music files on a computer and adds a copy of matched tracks to the user's music locker without having to upload the files. Google provides both a large amount of storage space and the scan-and-match feature at no cost.
Amazon was the first of the currently significant players to launch their cloud music locker service in late March 2011. Amazon Music launched without obtaining any new music streaming licenses, which upset the major record labels.[3] Google launched their service less than a month and a half later, also without obtaining any new licenses.[4] Apple negotiated with the major record labels for a new license before launching their service six months after Google's. Amazon and Google eventually negotiated licenses before launching their scan-and-match features.
For streaming services where a person is unable to upload their own music, but is limited to music provided by the service, such as Pandora Radio and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services. See that article also for information on subscription streaming services provided by three of the companies below (Google Play Music All Access, Apple's iTunes Radio, and Amazon's Prime Music).
Comparison
Major differences between the services are Google offering scan-and-match and a large amount of storage as no-cost features, whereas others usually offer limited or no storage space for free and scan and match only with an annual fee. For users with extremely large libraries, Amazon offers the most storage space for a reasonable annual fee.
Amazon does not allow podcasts, ringtones, or audiobooks to be uploaded.[5][6] Apple does not allow audiobooks or podcasts to be uploaded.[7]
| Amazon Music | iTunes in the Cloud | Google Play Music | Xbox Music + OneDrive | Style Jukebox | AudioBox | MyMusicCloud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner: | Amazon.com, Inc. | Apple Inc. | Google Inc. | Microsoft Corp. | Digital Geek Ltd. | iCoreTech, Inc. | Triplay Inc. |
| Launch date: | 2011-03-29[8] | 2011-10-12 | 2011-05-10 (beta)[9] | 2015-03-18[10] | 2012-09-05 | 2009-12-25 | 2011-09-01 |
| Web player: | Yes | No | Yes[11] | Yes | Yes[12] | Yes[13] | Yes[14] |
| Windows player: | Yes | Yes | Chrome | Yes | Yes | No | Chrome |
| Android player: | Yes[15][16] | No | Yes[11] | announced | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| iOS player: | Yes[17][18] | Yes | Yes[19] | announced | Yes | Yes[20] | Yes[21] |
| Windows Phone player: | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Other listening platforms: | Fire TV, Sonos,[22] Roku,[23][24] Samsung TVs |
Apple TV, other AirPlay | Android TV, Chromecast, Sonos[25] | Xbox One, Xbox 360 | Via AirPlay | Via AirPlay | Samsung TVs, Chromecast |
| Free space:[lower-alpha 1] | 250 songs | None[26] | 50,000 songs[27] | 50,000 songs | 250 to 3,000 songs[28] | None | Unlimited uploads. Play limited to 250 songs.[29] |
| Upload software: | Windows, OS X[5] | Windows, OS X | Windows, OS X, Linux,[30] Web Upload[31] | Windows, OS X, Web Upload, Windows Phone, iOS, Android |
Windows, Web Upload[32] | Windows, OS X, Linux[33] | Windows, OS X |
| Filetypes uploaded: | MP3 and AAC[34] | MP3 and AAC | MP3 | MP3, AAC, WMA | MP3, AAC, Ogg, WMA | MP3, M4A, M4B, M4R | MP3 |
| Filetypes transcoded: | None | Transcoded to 256 kbit/s AAC: ALAC, WAV, AIFF |
Transcoded to 320 kbit/s MP3: AAC, ALAC, FLAC,[lower-alpha 2] WMA,[lower-alpha 3] Ogg[35] |
None | None on upload | None | Transcoded to MP3: M4A, M4B, AAC, WAV, WMA, OGG, 3G2, 3GP, 3GPP, 3GPP2[36] |
| Maximum file size: | 100 MB | 200 MB or 2 hours[37] | 300 MB[38] | 10 GB[39] | 30 MB free / 1 GB paid | No limit | No limit |
| Premium service name: | Cloud Player Premium[40][41] | iTunes Match[42] | Google Play Music All Access/Music Key [43][44][lower-alpha 4] | None | Style Jukebox Premium | AudioBox Cloud | MyMusicCloud Unlimited |
| Premium service features: | Match/import up to 250,000 songs | Match/import up to 25,000 songs[lower-alpha 5] | Stream catalog of 30 million songs, temporary downloads for offline play, personalized recommendations[45] | N/A | Upload 25,000 songs, 10 devices, FLAC/M4A/ALAC support |
Storage space (varies) | Unlimited sync and play, 10 devices, ad free service |
| Premium annual cost: | $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK) | $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK), €24.99 (FR), $39.99 (AU) |
$119.88 (US)[lower-alpha 6] | N/A | $24.99 | $59.88 (most popular plan: 50 GB) | $39.99 (US), £29.99 (UK), €39.99 (EU) |
| Matchable file types: | MP3, AAC, AIFF, ALAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, WMA[34] |
MP3, AAC, AIFF, ALAC, WAV[42] |
MP3, AAC, ALAC, FLAC, Ogg, WMA[35] | No matching feature | No matching feature | No matching feature | No matching feature |
| Result for matched song: | 256 kbit/s VBR MP3[46] | 256 kbit/s AAC[42] | 320 kbit/s CBR MP3[47][48] | No matching feature | No matching feature | No matching feature | No matching feature |
| Premium service countries: | US, UK,[49] DE, FR[50] | 117[51] | 58[52][53] | 22 | Worldwide | Worldwide | Worldwide |
- ↑ Purchased songs from associated music store do not count toward space limits.
- ↑ Google Play Music transcoding of FLAC to MP3 only supported with 16 and 24-bit stereo or mono FLAC.
- ↑ Google Play Music only supports WMA transcoding on Windows with Music Manager.
- ↑ Inconsistent/confusing branding as of 4/27/15
- ↑ In the United States and Australia, iTunes Match also gets you ad-free iTunes Radio listening.
- ↑ $9.99/month
Former or defunct services
- My.MP3.com started in January 2000, fought major record labels in UMG v. MP3.com, and the service was discontinued by a new owner.[54]
- MP3tunes started in late 2005, fought major record labels in Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3Tunes, LLC, and closed in 2012 after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.[55]
- Lala started in 2006, was purchased by Apple, and shutdown on May 31, 2010.
- mSpot Music started in May 2010,[56] was purchased by Samsung,[57] and shutdown on October 15, 2012.
- Best Buy Music Cloud debuted in June 2011 to horrible reviews.[58]
- Mougg started in 2010, renamed to Mashup in 2012,[59][60] the domain ceased to function in December 2012. In April 2013, the service returned to its original name.
- Ubuntu One only included music features (web and mobile app playback, 20 GB storage) with the paid plan. The service was shutdown on 1 June 2014.[61]
- Samsung Music Hub is only available for a few Samsung devices.[62] Samsung Music Hub was retired on 1 July 2014.[63]
References
- ↑ Cloud Music Comparison: What’s the Best Service for Streaming Your Library Everywhere?, Lifehacker, 15 June 2011
- ↑ Google Music, iTunes Match, and Amazon Cloud Drive: Digital Music Services Comparison, PC World, 17 November 2011
- ↑ Amazon faces backlash over "music locker" service, Reuters, Phil Wahba and Paul Thomasch, Mar 29, 2011
- ↑ Unlicensed: Are Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player illegal?, Ars Technica, July 4, 2011
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Importing Music into Cloud Player, Amazon Help
- ↑ Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player take on iTunes Match. Who wins?, Ars Technica, January 17, 2013
- ↑ Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iTunes Match
- ↑ Amazon launches Cloud Player music locker service, Los Angeles Times, 2011-03-29
- ↑ Google Launches 'Music Beta,' a Streaming Cloud Service for Tunes, Wired News, 2011-05-10
- ↑ Xbox Music can now play music stored in OneDrive, The Verge, 2015-03-18
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 System requirements and country availability, Google Play Help
- ↑ Style Jukebox's iOS and Web apps play your hi-def music library from the cloud, The Next Web
- ↑ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Reboots With Support For DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, Others, TechCrunch
- ↑ MyMusicCloud revamps and bumps up users to unlimited plan free for 1 year, Geektime
- ↑ Using Amazon Cloud Player for Android, Amazon Help
- ↑ Amazon Music for Android, Amazon.com
- ↑ Amazon Cloud Player for iOS hands-on: the war for your music heats up, The Verge, 12 June 2012
- ↑ Amazon Music for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Amazon.com
- ↑ Google Play Music arrives for iOS, CNET,November 15 2013
- ↑ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Lands On iPhone, TechCrunch, 4 February 2013
- ↑ , MyMusicCloud for iPhone
- ↑ Register Your Sonos Device with Amazon Music, Amazon Help
- ↑ Amazon Cloud Player coming soon to Roku, 31 July 2012, Roku Blog
- ↑ Amazon Cloud Player on Roku, Amazon.com Help
- ↑ Play. Amplified. Introducing Google Play and Sonos
- ↑ iCloud storage plan overview, Apple.com
- ↑ About Music on Google Play, Google.com
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/mymusiccloud/3562f748-69eb-4e59-b124-605285f57002
- ↑ Install the Google Play Music Manager, Google Play Help
- ↑ Google Play Music finally lets you upload songs through the browser, The Verge
- ↑ Style Jukebox’s iOS and Web apps play your hi-def music library from the cloud, The Next Web
- ↑ AudioBox Downloads
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 About Importer File Formats, Amazon Help
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Google Play Music supported file types, Google Play Help
- ↑ MyMusicCloud Help: How to Import Your Music
- ↑ iTunes Store: Subscribing to iTunes Match, Apple.com
- ↑ Storage limits, Google Play Help
- ↑ OneDrive's file size limit upped to 10GB, syncing speeds tripled, PC World, Sep 11, 2014
- ↑ Updated Amazon Cloud Player Includes New Scan and Match Technology, Free Audio Quality Upgrades, and More, press release
- ↑ Amazon Updates Cloud Player: Scan & Match Imports, 256 Kbps Audio Upgrades, Premium Accounts, TechCrunch
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 iTunes Match, Apple.com
- ↑ Google Play All Access
- ↑ What's the Point of YouTube Music Key?, November 24, 2014
- ↑ Google Play All Access
- ↑ About Matched Music, Amazon.com
- ↑ Google Play Music enables scan and match in Europe ahead of US launch, The Verge
- ↑ Matching feature on the Google Play Music Manager, Google Play Help
- ↑ Amazon announces cloud player in the UK, The Telegraph
- ↑ Amazon Cloud Player launches in the UK, France and Germany, Music Alley, September 18th, 2012
- ↑ iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability, Apple Support
- ↑ Our new music matching feature gets your songs into your online music library on Google Play much faster. We’ll scan your collection and quickly rebuild it in the cloud - all for free., Google Play on Google+, 18 Dec 2012
- ↑ Country availability for apps & digital content
- ↑ Amazon AutoRip: How the labels held back progress for 14 years, Ars Technia, January 11, 2013
- ↑ Music labels force pioneering MP3tunes into bankruptcy, Ars Technica, May 14, 2012
- ↑ mSpot New Music Cloud Service, May 19, 2010
- ↑ Samsung boosts its mobile ecosystem with mSpot purchase, GigaOM, May 9, 2012
- ↑ Best Buy's Music Cloud: Skip It, For Now, PCMag.com, June 22, 2011
- ↑ Review: Download Music From the Cloud, Rolling Stone, 7 December 2010
- ↑ Mougg: Another great option for streaming your music library, The Next Web, 29 November 2010
- ↑ Shutting down Ubuntu One file services, Cononical blog, 2 April 2014
- ↑ mSpot Music is closing on October 15, 2012, mSpot blog, 9/19/2012
- ↑ Samsung to retire Music Hub streaming service, CNet.com