iTunes Match vs. Play Counts

How do you get a refund?

Hi,

I received this response from internetservicesitunes_en@euro.apple.com:

"I am a Senior iTunes Store Support Advisor. I understand, that you would like to know how to resolve the issue with the play count resetting itself. I understand that the issue started once you purchased iTunesMatch.

I have contacted our engineering department and I was informed that unfortunately, at this time, there is no fix for this issue, but that they hope to resolve it in the next iTunes update.

Please be assured that we are always looking for ways to improve your experience with the iTunes Store. I strongly recommend that you visit our feedback page and submit the request directly to Apple. We are always willing to learn more about what our valued customers, such as yourself, would like to see from us:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunes.html

We here at iTunes recognize that no one is better qualified to provide feedback about our Store than the members of our iTunes Store family. Your email may make the difference.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing you.

Sincerely,

iTunes Store Customer Support and Mac App Store - Senior Advisor"

Well, that's more of an answer than I got. At least we can all stop trying to fix it ourselves.

OK Apple… listen and listen carefully:

• Hundreds of iTunes Match users are unhappy because iOS5 is unable to speak with iTunes to keep our playcounts synced
• We wish that would happen automatically similarly to the way rating songs work that is, through iCloud
• You have not been able to make the magic happen, because your engineers are obviously challenged by some technical difficulty. We understand.

So, here's the deal:

• The humble iPod Classic and other non-iOS models are able to sync playcounts well, although they need to be manually synced through a wire
• We would be happy if, until you develop the ability to do that wirelessly through the cloud, AT LEAST, you can let us sync our iOS devices playcounts when we manually sync our iPhones/iPods/iPads with our Mac's iTunes.

Can we make a deal?

If you cannot solve this problem… guess what? You are going to lose hundreds of iTunes Match users, dissappointed, not only with your technical inability, but by your lack of response to a very obvious problem that demand an immediate solution.

My issue is that I had 3000 song and itunes match only downloaded 2200 of them and the rest are in gray letters and unplayable! what happens to those songs in gray letters?

My iPods do not update playcounts properly, along with my iPhone and iPad both with Match turned off. So basically the iPhone & iPads are just like old iPods in respect to syncing anyway.

Hi,

This is the response I got from Apple relationg to disappearing play counts:

"Thank you for your patience in this matter. As you reported that the play counts are disappearing I can tell you that this is expected from iTunes Match.

If you also see this issue happening in iTunes or iTunes in the Cloud, than I would like you to send me more information about it, like when does it happen and if it just happens on your PC or iOS Device or both.

I look forward to your reply and hope that you have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support"

"As you reported that the play counts are disappearing I can tell you that this is expected from iTunes Match."

This is a typo, right? Surely they meant NOT expected.

"If you also see this issue happening in iTunes or iTunes in the Cloud, than I would like you to send me more information about it, like when does it happen and if it just happens on your PC or iOS Device or both."

What the what? Please correct me if I am wrong, because I only have an iPod Touch, but isn't iTunes the only place you can see play counts? And where exactly would we see the play counts in "iTunes In The Cloud"?

Hi,

I have queried this.

Jim

Any feedback on your requery yet? I'd love to know what Apple says about this.

Hi,

No reply but I suspect that it was a typo.

Ps. Since upgrade to 10.6.3, play counts have not disappeared.

Jim

Just signed up to iTunes March. Think I'll hold on using it for now 😟

Good call, because it also causes any lyrics you've saved to not transfer over to your devices. Major drag.

I've found that my iPad seams to update faster than my iPhone, I only listen via WiFi as I'm on a capped data plan so maybe when the Pad talks to the cloud during its overnight backup it gives it the 411 while my iPhone is left to twiddle its thumbs on 3G, I only have access to WiFi via a hotspot login in my apartment block that will only allow one device at a time to log on with the same user name so no sharing. Playlists update but it takes time.

One thing does puzzle me is that I was listening to a Genius Mix while doing the dishes last night & when I logged into iTunes this morning it registered that it had played the initial track of the mix but as yet none of the subsequent tracks, although that could be due to the fact that once he dishes were done I picked up the iPad to check my emails & browse the news on Flipboard. Having said that though the iPhone had played several tracks before it was booted off the WiFi so it should have synced the play data to iCloud for most of the tracks played not just the first track.

estusal, did you notice the actual support link from taborpj, just two posts above yours?

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunes.html

You're more likely to contribute to actual CHANGE by sending your concerns (all clearly legitimate) to that address. Good luck.