[NewsPoster]

In a follow-up response to his earlier remarks that the library size for iTunes Match and Apple Music subscribers will be vastly increased, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue now believes that the upgrade, originally thought to be planned for release with iOS 9, should come "before the end of the year." The change would allow subscribers to either service to store many more songs matched, but not purchased, through the iTunes Store for access on multiple devices.

The primary advantage of iTunes Match, which costs $25 per year, is that songs matched by the service are available for streaming on demand on any device signed in to that Apple ID. Apple Music, the paid streaming music service that provides access to a 30-million-song iTunes Music Library for $10 a month (or $15 for a six-account Family subscription), includes a similar but distinct "storage locker" that allows users to store their own personal collection as well as tracks added from the service. Currently, the libraries of matched songs are limited to 25,000 songs not purchased from iTunes (bought songs do not count against the limit).

Cue wants the limit increased to 100,000 songs, reports MacRumors, but this requires permission from the record labels. Most of the money from iTunes Match and the bulk of monthly subscriptions to Apple Music goes to copyright holders, performers and songwriters in the form of a small payment each time the track is streamed, which is considered a "broadcast" of the track even though it is going to only the user's device. Another complication has been recent issues with iTunes 12, resulting in some library confusion between iTunes Match users and Apple Music users.

The glitches would result in errors such as the wrong version of a song or album being set by Apple for the cloud version of the library, rather than the version actually matched. In some cases, the user's versions of the songs or albums would be wiped out and replaced with something completely different, even on the users' local iTunes library. These severe issues appear to have been largely corrected in later updates, though MacNN testing has shown that occasional, more minor, tagging issues and misidentification of song versions can still occasionally take place.

[Arty50]

This is all well and good, but the first thing they need to do is fix the horrible new interface. I loved the simplicity and ease of use of the old app. The new one is poorly designed and very difficult to use.

[pairof9s]

Hear, hear, Arty50!!

[Charles Martin]

Our understanding is that Apple has ... gotten some feedback ... on that topic . I suspect some refinements are in the works.