What happens if iTunes Match subscription lapses?

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What happens if iTunes Match subscription lapses?

If I subscribe to Match and then let my subscription lapse, will I be able to re-subscribe at a later date and find that iTunes has remembered what I matched?

For example, say I didn't renew and then my house burnt down and I lost all my music. Could I resubscribe and get my music back?

I note that the Help says if you don't renew you 'lose the central storage' but I've seen reviews that suggest your music is still backed up even if your subscription lapses. Does anyone know?

Posted on May 11, 2012 11:53 AM

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Answer 1

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Community User

May 12, 2012 11:16 AM in response to yapmaul

I don't think any of us really knows, but I would assume the worst which is that if you let it lapse, all your Matched data will be gone.

In reality, and this is just a guess, it's possible that Apple will allow for a small window in case the subscription lapses and you didn't want that to happen (ie. your credit card expired and you forgot to change it). But even if they do this, it's likely a small window before they purge your data completely. In other words, I wouldn't risk it - just back everything up to a local drive to play it safe.

I hope everyone is doing that because trusting all your songs to iTunes Match only is really not the best idea, imo. Local backups are still critical if you really care about your data.

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Answer 2

yapmaul Author

Level 1

5 points

May 12, 2012 11:34 AM in response to Community User

I guess you're probably right. Apple would be unlikely to tell us if you could pay one year's subscription and have your data backed up forever. Thanks for the reply!

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