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]

Previously, there were three large services—Amazon Music, Apple's iTunes Match, and YouTube 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 Apple (and formerly Amazon.com) was "scan-and-match", which examined music files on a computer and added a copy of matched tracks to the user's music locker without having to upload the files. Google provided both a large amount of storage space and the scan-and-match feature at no cost.

Amazon was the first of the initially-significant players to launch their cloud music locker service, in late March 2011, and the first to discontinue it, on 30 April 2018.[3] Amazon Music launched without obtaining any new music streaming licenses, which upset the major record labels.[4] Amazon eventually negotiated licenses before launching scan-and-match.

Google launched their service less than a month and a half after Amazon, also without obtaining any new licenses.[5] Like Amazon, Google eventually negotiated licenses before launching scan-and-match. In 2018, Google announced a transition from Google Play Music to YouTube Music,[6] and in May, 2020, Google had created a transfer tool to migrate added albums, uploads, history, and playlists.[7] On October 22, 2020, Google Play Music was discontinued.[8]

Apple was the last of the first three services to launch, which they did on October 12, 2011. However, Apple had negotiated ahead of time with the major record labels for new licenses. Apple's product is the only of the three to remain in operation today (see iTunes Match, below).

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 four of the companies below (Google Play Music All Access, Apple's Apple Music, Amazon's Prime Music, and Microsoft's Groove Music Pass).

Comparison

YouTube Music iTunes Match
Owner: YouTube LLC (Google LLC) Apple Inc.
Launch date: 2015-11-12 2011-10-12
Currently Available: Yes Yes
Web Client: Yes No
Windows Client: No Yes
Android App: Yes No
iOS App: Yes Yes[9]
Other listening platforms: Google Home, Sonos, Chromecast, Android TV, Android Auto Apple TV, other AirPlay
Upload software: Web browser[10] Windows, macOS
Music Format: AAC[11] AAC, MP3
Filetypes matched: None[12] AAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, WAV
Filetypes transcoded: FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, WMA AIFF, ALAC, WAV
Maximum file size: 300 MB 200 MB or 2 hours[13]
Free Bitrate: 256 kbit/s[10] None
Premium Bitrate: 256 kbit/s 256 kbit/s
Free Storage:[a] 100,000 songs[14] None[15]
Premium Storage: 100,000 songs[14] 100,000 files[b][16]
Premium service features: Ads-free, background play, download music offline, use audio-only mode, travel with YouTube Music, shuffle downloads, Apple Carplay & Android Auto compatibility[17]
Premium pricing: $9.99 per month (YouTube Music Premium)

$11.99 per month (YouTube Premium)

Annual fee of $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK), €24.99 (FR), $39.99 (AU)

Included with $9.99 per month Apple Music subscription

Premium service countries: 94 (YouTube Music Premium)[18]

95 (YouTube Premium)[18]

117[19]
  1. ^ Purchased music files from associated music store do not count toward space limits.
  2. ^ In the United States and Australia, iTunes Match also gets you ad-free iTunes Radio listening.

Former or defunct services

  • Amazon Music storage, started in March 2009, offered storage space for 250 uploaded tracks (MP3 or AAC up to 100 MB each) in free version or 250,000 tracks in premium version, as well as web players for major operating systems, Fire TV, Roku, and Sonos sound systems. Amazon did not allow podcasts, ringtones, or audiobooks to be uploaded.[20] Amazon started phasing out cloud storage from December 2017.[21]
  • Best Buy Music Cloud debuted in June 2011 to unfavourable reviews.[22]
  • Google Play Music Music locker, store, and streaming service debuted in May 2011, and shut down October 2020. Google has replaced Play Music with YouTube Music.[23]
  • Groove Music by Microsoft debuted in 2015, linking Microsoft's Groove music player to OneDrive cloud storage. It allowed storing up to 5 GB of music in AAC, MP3 and WMA formats. Playback was possible on devices running Windows, iOS or Android as well as Xbox game consoles.
  • Lala started in 2006, was purchased by Apple, and shut down on May 31, 2010.
  • 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.[24]
  • mSpot Music started in May 2010,[25] was purchased by Samsung,[26] and shut down on October 15, 2012.
  • 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.[27]
  • Samsung Music Hub was only available for a few Samsung devices[28] and was retired on 1 July 2014.[29]
  • Style Jukebox, debuted in September 2012, offered up to 2 TB of music storage (10 GB in the trial period) and music players for the common operating systems, and supported all major file formats incl. high-resolution audio. The service was discontinued in December 2017.
  • Ubuntu One only included music features (web and mobile app playback, 20 GB storage) with the paid plan. The service was shut down on 1 June 2014.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cloud Music Comparison: What’s the Best Service for Streaming Your Library Everywhere? Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Lifehacker, 15 June 2011
  2. ^ Google Music, iTunes Match, and Amazon Cloud Drive: Digital Music Services Comparison Archived 2012-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, PC World, 17 November 2011
  3. ^ "Amazon Music to end support for streaming your uploaded MP3s". 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  4. ^ Amazon faces backlash over "music locker" service Archived 2015-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, Phil Wahba and Paul Thomasch, Mar 29, 2011
  5. ^ Unlicensed: Are Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player illegal? Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ars Technica, July 4, 2011
  6. ^ "YouTube Music and YouTube Premium are now live in the U.S., 16 other nations". 4 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. ^ "YouTube Music is making it simple to transfer over your Google Play Music library". Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  8. ^ "Google Play Music is now officially dead, dead, dead (Update: ... Dead)". 22 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  9. ^ Vox Plays Any Music File on iOS, Streams Music from a New Music Locker Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, CNET, April 15, 2015
  10. ^ a b "Upload your music - YouTube Music Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  11. ^ "Select or Change your Audio Quality - YouTube Music Help". Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  12. ^ "How YouTube Music uploads differ from Play Music: Everything you need to know". 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  13. ^ iTunes Store: Subscribing to iTunes Match Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Apple.com
  14. ^ a b support.google.com "Upload music to your YouTube Music library"
  15. ^ iCloud storage plan overview Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Apple.com
  16. ^ "Apple support page showing 100,000 track limit". Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  17. ^ "Explore YouTube Music Premium benefits - YouTube Music Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  18. ^ a b "Paid memberships available locations - YouTube Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  19. ^ iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, Apple Support
  20. ^ Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player take on iTunes Match. Who wins? Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ars Technica, January 17, 2013
  21. ^ Amazon.com, Inc. "About Amazon Music Subscriptions". Amazon. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2018. The Amazon Music Storage subscription plans (free and paid) are being retired. Beginning January 15, 2018, no new subscriptions will be accepted.
  22. ^ Best Buy's Music Cloud: Skip It, For Now Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, PCMag.com, June 22, 2011
  23. ^ "Google Play Music is now officially dead, dead, dead (Update: ... Dead)". 22 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  24. ^ Music labels force pioneering MP3tunes into bankruptcy Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ars Technica, May 14, 2012
  25. ^ mSpot New Music Cloud Service Archived 2013-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, May 19, 2010
  26. ^ Samsung boosts its mobile ecosystem with mSpot purchase Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, GigaOM, May 9, 2012
  27. ^ Amazon AutoRip: How the labels held back progress for 14 years Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ars Technica, January 11, 2013
  28. ^ mSpot Music is closing on October 15, 2012 Archived November 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, mSpot blog, 9/19/2012
  29. ^ Samsung to retire Music Hub streaming service Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, CNet.com
  30. ^ Silber, Jane (2 April 2014). "Shutting down Ubuntu One file services". Canonical Blog. Canonical Ltd. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
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