iTunes Match libraries seeing duplicates, bad metadata ahead of Apple Music launch
As Apple Music prepares to launch later on Tuesday, many people are experiencing problems with iTunes Match that are causing havoc with their music libraries, according to complaints received by AppleInsider and on Apple's support forums.
via Apple Support Communities
Reported issues can range from trouble downloading or streaming songs to split albums, duplicate artists and playlists, or simply inaccurate metadata and album art. So far problems appear to be limited mostly to people trying to browse their libraries from an iOS 8.3 device or an Apple TV, as people with earlier versions of iOS or listening on their desktop are often unaffected.
The glitches also appear to affect both uploaded music and music bought directly from the iTunes Store. Apple support staff have been unable to resolve the situation so far.
It's unclear if the problems are related to the introduction of Apple Music. Apple describes both services as "independent but complementary," noting that Apple Music subscribers will likewise be able to upload any songs not already in Apple's catalog. iTunes Match is cheaper at $25 per year, but only offers cloud access to uploaded music and iTunes purchases.
The company could conceivably be working on integrating the Apple Music and iTunes Match backends, which might explain some additional complaints about iTunes having trouble connecting to Match from a Mac or PC. Apple is due to release new versions of iOS and iTunes later today, which may bring some fixes in addition to enabling Apple Music support.
Apple also revealed this week that iTunes Match and Apple Music support for tracks in the cloud will expand from its current cap of 25,000 songs to 100,000 songs this fall with the release of iOS 9.
via Apple Support Communities
Reported issues can range from trouble downloading or streaming songs to split albums, duplicate artists and playlists, or simply inaccurate metadata and album art. So far problems appear to be limited mostly to people trying to browse their libraries from an iOS 8.3 device or an Apple TV, as people with earlier versions of iOS or listening on their desktop are often unaffected.
The glitches also appear to affect both uploaded music and music bought directly from the iTunes Store. Apple support staff have been unable to resolve the situation so far.
It's unclear if the problems are related to the introduction of Apple Music. Apple describes both services as "independent but complementary," noting that Apple Music subscribers will likewise be able to upload any songs not already in Apple's catalog. iTunes Match is cheaper at $25 per year, but only offers cloud access to uploaded music and iTunes purchases.
The company could conceivably be working on integrating the Apple Music and iTunes Match backends, which might explain some additional complaints about iTunes having trouble connecting to Match from a Mac or PC. Apple is due to release new versions of iOS and iTunes later today, which may bring some fixes in addition to enabling Apple Music support.
Apple also revealed this week that iTunes Match and Apple Music support for tracks in the cloud will expand from its current cap of 25,000 songs to 100,000 songs this fall with the release of iOS 9.
Comments
Match is a huge disappointment for me.
I haven't add any major issues with my 20k library. However, I have noticed that in my Recently Added section, albums I've had in my library for years are now listed there. I assume this was because it was recently updated?
An email or some kind of message from Apple during this week of frustration would have been nice though.
I bet people hoarded clay tablets and papyrus scrolls too, those Gutenberg presses were so unreliable!
Good luck Apple Music. I hope you turn out to be a good friend and not an annoyance.
I don't think Match is available where I live. Is there any use in paying for this when I have 4 TB of ALAC files of classical music locally? I also don't buy files on the net (the exception is from Hyperion that sell ALAC files of their catalogue)
Yep, I started noticing the issue this morning as well. It seems to primarily affect compilations in which I designated an "Album Artist" such as DJ mixes. But, the glitch shows up in all sorts of random places. It's irritating, because with those albums I can only listen to one track at a time.
Already tried logging in and out of iTunes and toggling iTunes Match on and off. The issue persists. I'll try logging my main computer (where I store my music files) in and out of iTunes later on and see if that helps. I'd prefer not to upgrade to iOS 8.4 until I hear more about the changes Apple made to the Music app (reading a lot of complaints about the interface, and how the iTunes Radio function has been crippled). Unfortunately, this seems like something Apple would just leave alone and advise people to fix by upgrading to iOS 8.4 (like the FaceTime bug that locked out users of older iOS versions).
Been using iTunes Match for about two years, and it has actually worked quite well for me, especially in the last year or so. In the beginning, it could not find a lot of tracks when I was listening in my car. But, I haven't seen that kind of error in well over a year. With Apple's short attention span and new focus on launching Apple Music, I wonder if this is another Apple service that will just suffer from neglect until they finally pull the plug. Yes, it's a promising sign that they're raising the track limit to 100,000. But, otherwise I doubt that we'll see major improvements, given how they're trying to sign 500M users up for Apple Music.
works on 8.3 and 8.4