The iTunes Match, a feature of iTunes in the Cloud, is finally available.

The iTunes Match allows users to access their whole personal collection library from any computer that has iTunes 10.5.1/iOS 5.0.1 or any later device provided that the user has Internet connection. The iTunes Match scans the music in the iTunes library and matches it to the music available on the iTunes store. If the songs are not matched, it would be automatically uploaded. This feature comes with a US$24.99 annual subscription fee. The subscription will automatically renew by the end of the user's subscription period. Users could opt to pay for the iTunes Match subscription fee from their store credit provided that there is a valid payment method would be available by the time of signing-up.

The iTunes Match specific minimum system requirements includes an OS X Lion 10.7 or later, Windows Vista or later, iTunes 10.5.1 or later, iOS 5 or later on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2. This feature has a limit of 25,000 songs and the iTunes Store purchase made through the same Apple ID being used for iTunes Match is not included in the 25,000 song limit. The upload time is different and is dependent on the number of songs uploaded as well as local network speeds. Songs that are over 200 MB will not be uploaded to iCloud. Songs that contain Digital Rights Management (DRM) and songs that are purchased outside the U.S. iTunes Store containing DRM will not be matched or uploaded in iCloud.

There are certain advantages and disadvantages when it comes to subscribing to iTunes Match. Advantages of using iTunes Match includes playing all personal music from multiple computers through eliminating duplicates. It also gives the advantage of replacing low-quality songs like songs ripped from a CD or from the Internet to high-quality copies from Apple's servers. In short, it gives synchronization as well as a backup option for their personal music collection. In terms of disadvantages, streaming music could be a potential problem because there is no option of "streaming only" as compared to Google Music or Amazon Cloud Player. Philip Elmer-DeWitt of CNN money mentioned another potential disadvantage which is the subscription fee for iTunes Match. He also posed this question for users: Once Apple has replaced all the 5,000 plus non-iTunes songs in my music library with clean 256-Kbps non-DRM copies that are mine, permanently, with all the benefits of iTunes in the Cloud, why would I pay for a second year of the service?

The iTunes Match was supposed to be launched by the end of October but it was officially launched by November. Apple refused to issue a statement about the reasons for the delay.