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| {{yes|Yes: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/mp3/player link]}}
| {{yes|Yes: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/mp3/player link]}}
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
| {{yes|Yes: [https://play.google.com/music/listen link]}}<ref name="GooglePlayPlatforms">[https://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1114577 System requirements and country availability], Google Play Help</ref>
| {{yes|Yes (Chrome ext.)]}}<ref name="GooglePlayPlatforms">[https://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1114577 System requirements and country availability], Google Play Help</ref>
| {{yes|Yes}}
| {{yes|Yes}}
| {{yes|Yes: [https://audiobox.fm/account link]}}<ref>[http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/11/cloud-music-player-audiobox-reboots-with-support-for-dropbox-google-drive-skydrive-box-others/ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Reboots With Support For DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, Others], [[TechCrunch]]</ref>
| {{yes|Yes: [https://audiobox.fm/account link]}}<ref>[http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/11/cloud-music-player-audiobox-reboots-with-support-for-dropbox-google-drive-skydrive-box-others/ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Reboots With Support For DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, Others], [[TechCrunch]]</ref>

Revision as of 13:20, 19 July 2014

This is a comparison of online music storage 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,[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 and Apple is "scan-and-match", which examines music files on a computer and adds a copy of matched tracks 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 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 Style Jukebox AudioBox
Owner: Amazon.com, Inc. Apple Inc. Google Inc. Digital Geek Ltd. iCoreTech, Inc.
Launch date: 2011-03-29[8] 2011-10-12 2011-05-10 (beta)[9] 2012-09-05 2009-12-25
Web player: Yes: link No Yes (Chrome ext.)][10] Yes Yes: link[11]
Windows player: Yes Yes: link Yes: link Yes: link No
Android player: Yes[12][13] No Yes[10] Yes[14] Yes[15]
iOS player: Yes[16][17] Yes Yes[18] Yes[19] Yes[20]
Other listening platforms: Sonos,[21] Roku,[22][23] Samsung TVs Apple TV Google TV,[24] Chromecast, Sonos,[25] Via AirPlay Via AirPlay
Free space:[note 1] 250 songs None[26] 20,000 songs[27] 250 to 2,500 songs[28] None
Upload software: Windows, OS X[5] Windows, OS X Windows, OS X, Linux,[29] Web Upload[30] Windows Windows, OS X, Linux[31]
Filetypes uploaded: MP3 and AAC[32] MP3 and AAC MP3 MP3, M4A, OGG,
AAC, FLAC, WMA, ALAC 		MP3, M4A, M4B, M4R
Filetypes transcoded: None Transcoded to 256 kbit/s AAC:
ALAC, WAV, AIFF 		Transcoded to 320 kbit/s MP3:
AAC, FLAC, WMA,[note 2] Ogg[33] 		None None
Maximum file size: 100 MB 200 MB or 2 hours[34] 300 MB[35][36] 30 MB free / 1 GB paid No limit
Premium service name: Cloud Player Premium[37][38] iTunes Match[39] scan-and-match[40][note 3] Style Jukebox Premium AudioBox Cloud
Premium service features: Match/import up to 250,000 songs Match/import up to 25,000 songs Matching included in basic features Upload 21,000 songs, 10 devices, FLAC support Storage space (varies)
Premium annual cost: $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK) $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK),
€24.99 (FR), $39.99 (AU) 		None $24.99 $59.88 (most popular plan: 50 GB)
Matchable file types: AAC, MP3, AIFF, ALAC,
WAV, FLAC, Ogg, WMA[32] 		AAC, MP3, AIFF, ALAC,
WAV[39] 		AAC, MP3, FLAC, Ogg, WMA No matching feature No matching feature
Result for matched song: 256 kbit/s VBR MP3[41] 256 kbit/s AAC[39] 320 kbit/s CBR MP3[42][43] No matching feature No matching feature
Premium service countries: US, UK,[44] DE, FR[45] 116[46] AU, AT, BE, CZ, FI,
FR, DE, GR, HU, IE,
IT, LI, LU, MX, NL,
NZ, NO, PT, RU, SK,
ES, SE, CH, UK, US[47][48] 		Worldwide Worldwide
  1. ^ Purchased songs from associated music store do not count toward space limits.
  2. ^ WMA transcoding supported only on Windows.
  3. ^ Google's scan-and-match is part of the basic service.

Not included

Play:Rewind [2] is in closed beta.

Xbox Music supports playback only on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Xbox 360/One. A scan-and-match service was planned for launch in 2013,[49][50] but as of January 2014 there is still only a one at a time album matching. Songs not in the catalog cannot be uploaded. There may be a related OneDrive service.[51]

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.[52]
  • 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.[53]
  • Lala started in 2006, was purchased by Apple, and shutdown on May 31, 2010.
  • mSpot Music started in May 2010,[54] was purchased by Samsung,[55] and shutdown on October 15, 2012.
  • Best Buy Music Cloud debuted in June 2011 to horrible reviews.[56]
  • Mougg started in 2010, renamed to Mashup in 2012,[57][58] the domain ceased to function in December 2012. In April 2013, the service returned to its original name.
  • Ubuntu One [3] only included music features (web and mobile app playback, 20 GB storage) with the paid plan. Planned for shutdown in 2014.[59]
  • Samsung Music Hub [4] is only available for a few Samsung devices.[60] Samsung Music Hub will be retired on 1 July 2014.[61]

References

  1. ^ Cloud Music Comparison: What’s the Best Service for Streaming Your Library Everywhere?, Lifehacker, 15 June 2011
  2. ^ Google Music, iTunes Match, and Amazon Cloud Drive: Digital Music Services Comparison, PC World, 17 November 2011
  3. ^ Amazon faces backlash over "music locker" service, Reuters, Phil Wahba and Paul Thomasch, Mar 29, 2011
  4. ^ Unlicensed: Are Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player illegal?, Ars Technica, July 4, 2011
  5. ^ a b Importing Music into Cloud Player, Amazon Help
  6. ^ Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player take on iTunes Match. Who wins?, Ars Technica, January 17, 2013
  7. ^ Instant Expert: Secrets & Features of iTunes Match
  8. ^ Amazon launches Cloud Player music locker service, Los Angeles Times, 2011-03-29
  9. ^ Google Launches 'Music Beta,' a Streaming Cloud Service for Tunes, Wired News, 2011-05-10
  10. ^ a b System requirements and country availability, Google Play Help
  11. ^ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Reboots With Support For DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, Others, TechCrunch
  12. ^ Using Amazon Cloud Player for Android, Amazon Help
  13. ^ Amazon Music for Android, Amazon.com
  14. ^ App in Google Play
  15. ^ AudioBox on Android, AudioBox.fm
  16. ^ Amazon Cloud Player for iOS hands-on: the war for your music heats up, The Verge, 12 June 2012
  17. ^ Amazon Music for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Amazon.com
  18. ^ Google Play Music arrives for iOS, CNET,November 15 2013
  19. ^ App in iTunes
  20. ^ Cloud-Music Player AudioBox Lands On iPhone, TechCrunch, 4 February 2013
  21. ^ Register Your Sonos Device with Amazon Music, Amazon Help
  22. ^ Amazon Cloud Player coming soon to Roku, 31 July 2012, Roku Blog
  23. ^ Amazon Cloud Player on Roku, Amazon.com Help
  24. ^ Google Play Movies, TV shows, and Music now on Google TV, Google TV Blog, 8 October 2012
  25. ^ Play. Amplified. Introducing Google Play and Sonos
  26. ^ iCloud storage plan overview, Apple.com
  27. ^ About Music on Google Play, Google.com
  28. ^ Get more free space on Style Jukebox
  29. ^ Install the Google Play Music Manager, Google Play Help
  30. ^ Google Play Music finally lets you upload songs through the browser, The Verge
  31. ^ AudioBox Downloads
  32. ^ a b About Importer File Formats, Amazon Help
  33. ^ Upload or download with Google Play Music Manager: Supported filetypes, Google Play Help
  34. ^ iTunes Store: Subscribing to iTunes Match, Apple.com
  35. ^ Storage limits, Google Play Help
  36. ^ "File size exceeds server specified maximum" Google Play Help
  37. ^ Updated Amazon Cloud Player Includes New Scan and Match Technology, Free Audio Quality Upgrades, and More, press release
  38. ^ Amazon Updates Cloud Player: Scan & Match Imports, 256 Kbps Audio Upgrades, Premium Accounts, TechCrunch
  39. ^ a b c iTunes Match, Apple.com
  40. ^ Google Music to launch free scan-and-match next month, CNET News, October 29, 2012
  41. ^ About Matched Music, Amazon.com
  42. ^ Google Play Music enables scan and match in Europe ahead of US launch, The Verge
  43. ^ Matching feature on the Google Play Music Manager, Google Play Help
  44. ^ Amazon announces cloud player in the UK, The Telegraph
  45. ^ Amazon Cloud Player launches in the UK, France and Germany, Music Alley, September 18th, 2012
  46. ^ iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability, Apple Support
  47. ^ 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
  48. ^ Country availability for apps & digital content
  49. ^ Microsoft turns on new Xbox music service, The USA Today
  50. ^ Introducing Xbox Music: The Ultimate All-in-One Music Service Featuring Free Streaming on Windows 8 and Windows RT Tablets and PCs, Microsoft press release, 14 Oct 2012
  51. ^ Microsoft may bring music player to SkyDrive, codes reveal, PC World, 2 December 2012
  52. ^ Amazon AutoRip: How the labels held back progress for 14 years, Ars Technia, January 11, 2013
  53. ^ Music labels force pioneering MP3tunes into bankruptcy, Ars Technica, May 14, 2012
  54. ^ mSpot New Music Cloud Service, May 19, 2010
  55. ^ Samsung boosts its mobile ecosystem with mSpot purchase, GigaOM, May 9, 2012
  56. ^ Best Buy's Music Cloud: Skip It, For Now, PCMag.com, June 22, 2011
  57. ^ Review: Download Music From the Cloud, Rolling Stone, 7 December 2010
  58. ^ Mougg: Another great option for streaming your music library, The Next Web, 29 November 2010
  59. ^ Shutting down Ubuntu One file services, Cononical blog, 2 April 2014
  60. ^ mSpot Music is closing on October 15, 2012, mSpot blog, 9/19/2012
  61. ^ [1], CNet.com
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