Apple finally revealed the details of its hotly anticipated, Steve Jobs keynote-worthy iCloud, including a major iTunes upgrade, at the kickoff for this week’s WWDC. That upgrade includes iTunes Match, a cloud-based music service competing with Google’s Music Beta and Amazon’s Cloud Drive. In our chart below, we’ve compared the major differences among the three services, including their unique features, and their pluses and minuses.
|
Apple iTunes |
Google Music Beta |
Amazon Cloud Drive |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Link |
|||
|
Available |
Now |
Invitation only (for now) |
Now with Amazon.com account |
|
Price |
Free; iTunes Match is $24.99 per year for up to 20,000 songs |
Free (for now) |
5GB free with Amazon.com account; 20GB for $20 a year, then $1 per GB in increments of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000. |
|
Storage Capacity |
Unlimited |
Up to 20,000 songs, or about 100GB |
Up to 1,000 GB |
|
Audio File Formats |
MP3, AAC |
MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC |
MP3, AAC |
|
Unique Features |
Access to iTunes Store; iTunes Match |
Free songs during setup |
Access to Amazon’s MP3 Store |
|
paidContent Coverage |
|||
|
System Requirements |
Apple: iOS 4.3 and newer; PC: iTunes 10.2.2 on Windows XP and newer |
Apple: Mac OS X 10.5 and newer; Windows: XP and newer |
Internet Explorer 8 and newer; Firefox version 3.5 and newer; Chrome; Safari |
|
Music App |
iTunes |
Web; Android app |
Web; Android app |
|
Deals With Record Labels |
Multiple labels |
None for library matching or subscription |
None |
|
Quick Take |
Apple doesn’t always get it right the first time (think Apple TV and even MobileMe). Plus: Syncing should be faster and easier; song quality may get a boost. Minus: Not a real subscription service, no streaming, lots of limits. |
Google cooperated enough with the labels to offer free downloads within a catalog of 20,000 songs. Plus: Fairly simple to set up once you get an invitation; delivers audio ubiquity as promised (most of the time); instant playlists. Minus: Slow to upload; can rely too much on streaming with poor results when the signal isn’t great. |
Amazon gets first-mover points Plus: Easy to add purchases, works with Android, offers legit alternative to iTunes. Minus: Slow to set up and a little clunky. |
Source: Based on manufacturer information, additional reporting.
Produced by: Amanda Natividad
Edited by: Staci D. Kramer
Published: June 7, 2011




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