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Comparing music storage services from Apple, Amazon, Google

We took a look at how iTunes Match, Amazon Cloud Player and Google Play Music compare, and which one is right for you.

Dan Graziano Associate Editor / How To
Dan Graziano is an associate editor for CNET. His work has appeared on BGR, Fox News, Fox Business, and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn't tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.
Dan Graziano
3 min read

Watch this: iTunes Match vs. Amazon Music vs. Google Play Music

Apple, Amazon and Google all have services that let you access your music in the cloud. Files can be scanned from your personal library and will then be matched with the same song in the cloud. If a song isn't available in the catalog, however, you will be able to upload it from your personal library. Apple's iTunes Match, Amazon's Cloud Player and Google's Play Music each have their advantages and disadvantages. Now the big question: which one of these services is right for you?

iTunes MatchAmazon Cloud PlayerGoogle Play Music
Free option N/A250 songs, scan & match, purchases do not count against total50,000 songs, scan & match, purchases do not count against total
Paid option $24.99/yr, £21.99/yr (UK), AU$34.99/yr, scan & match, purchases do not count against total$24.99/yr, £21.99/yr (UK), scan & match, purchases do not count against totalN/A
Max capacity 25,000 songs250,000 songs50,000 songs
Recognized formats MP3, AIFF, WAV, MPEG-4, AACMP3, AAC, WMA (Windows only), OGG, WAV, ALAC (Mac OS only), AIFF and FLACMP3, AAC, WMA (Windows only), OGG, ALAC (Mac OS only), FLAC
Matching format 256kbps AAC256kbps MP3320kbps MP3
Maximum file size 200MB or 2 hours100MB300MB
Web streaming NoYesYes
Mobile platforms iOSAndroid, FireOS, iOSAndroid, iOS
Hardware support Mac/PC through iTunes, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle Fire, Android devices, Mac/PC, Fire TV, Roku, Sonos, Samsung Smart TVs, select vehicles from BMW, Ford, MiniAndroid smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Chromecast, Android TV, Sonos
Requirements iTunes accountAmazon accountGoogle account
Max device support 101010
Catalog size* 43,000,000 songs30,000,000 songs30,000,000 songs
Finds duplicates YesNoNo
Perks Unlimited ad-free streaming from iTunes RadioNoneNone

*Estimated size

iTunes Match

Apple's iTunes Match service is really for people who want to stay in Apple's walled garden. Android users need not apply. Other than the lack of outside support, the one big downside to iTunes Match is there is no Web player. While iTunes is a great program, it can be a pain to have to download it on a friend's computer to stream music. The service only supports streaming on an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV or through iTunes on your computer. It also doesn't support OGG, WMA and FLAC music files. You must instead convert those files to MP3, AAC or WAV/AIFF in order for them to be matched.

The big advantage to using iTunes Match over the competition is the company's massive catalog, which is home to more than 43 million songs. The added perk of unlimited ad-free streaming from iTunes Radios only sweetens the deal and the fact that it's fully integrated into the iTunes software is another benefit.

Amazon Cloud Player

Amazon lets you try out its Cloud Player service by offering space for 250 songs for free. If you opt to pay the $25 yearly fee, you can upload a whopping 250,000 songs, which is more than 10 times storage of iTunes Match for the same price. It's clear that the sheer size of the storage offered by Amazon is the biggest draw, but it's not the only benefit. As you can see in the chart above, your music will be accessible virtually everywhere. Amazon also supports the most audio formats.

One major downside is that matched songs will be provided as a 256kbps MP3, which is arguably a more lossy format than Apple's 256kbps AAC or Google Play's 320kbps MP3. Songs that have been upgraded to this 256kbps MP3 format are not automatically synchronized back to your computer. The process of manually downloading them from the cloud can be time consuming and more often than not leads to duplicated tracks in your library.

Google Play Music

Google recently boosted the amount of songs you can store from 20,000 all the way up to 50,000. The best part? It's completely free. These songs can then be streamed on the Web, from your Android or iOS device, on a Chromecast or a Sonos speaker. There isn't a native desktop app, however, which may annoy some users. Aside from the obvious benefit of getting more storage than Apple without having to pay a dime, Google Play Music also matches music at a higher quality, supports the largest file size -- 300MB -- and can match songs from more audio formats.

Conclusion

All three services will match lower quality files with a higher audio quality version. They also don't count songs that you have bought from their respective stores against your storage limit.

For a lot of people, Google is the best option. The mobile app isn't perfect, but you can't beat the free price tag. If your music library is huge, Amazon's Cloud Player could be worth checking out. If you like that Apple ecosystem or have purchased most of your music from iTunes, there's really no reason to shy away from it.

This article is on music storage services. For information on music streaming services (Spotify, Google Play All Access, Beats Music, etc...), check out this article.