Locked out of iTunes Match

This is part of the iTunes terms and conditions - iTUNES STORE - TERMS AND CONDITIONS It's the 3rd item below that's snared you:

i) You may auto-download Eligible Content or download previously-purchased Eligible Content from an Account on up to 10 Associated Devices, provided no more than 5 are iTunes-authorized computers.

(ii) An Associated Device can be associated with only one Account at any given time.

(iii) You may switch an Associated Device to a different Account only once every 90 days.

Basically, it means you have to wait the 90 days. You're only locked out of iTunes Match on this one computer though, if you try to access it from other devices it should be fine.

If you really, really need to use that iTunes account on this computer before the 90 days is up, you might want to try creating a new user account locally on your Mac (in "System Preferences" not in the iTunes Store) - then use that to start up iTunes and see if you can turn on Match, using the "locked" iTunes Store account. I have no idea if that will work, but it's possible that "associated device" means a specific user account on a computer instead of the computer itself. If it works, you'll be able to see all the content in the "cloud", but your actual music files will still be in your original user account's music library. You may find it a bit confusing, because then you'll have two iTunes accounts and two local Mac accounts, but it may actually work out better in the long run.

The best route here is to contact Apple directly.

With 2 iTunes Match subscriptions they will work hard to help.

By seeking to change accounts on a single device you have hit an Apple designed protection mechanism - this is why you need support directly from the in-house team.

I have a similar problem.

I have an iTunes account, for sake of discussion call it his@me.com. I use this one account for all iTunes activity. I use a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. I have subscribed to iTunes Match for his@me.com.

My wife has her own iTunes account, call it hers@me.com. She also has a MacBook Pro, an iPhone and an iPad. She has also subscribed to iTunes Match - a separate subscription for hers@me.com

All of our audio files are on an external USB Disk.

I logged into his@me.com on my MacBook Pro, opened a new itunes library and copied all of the files from the external disk that I wanted into the new iTunes library. I then ran iTunes Match. Everything is working fine. I can access my iCloud files on my MacBook Pro and my iPhone.

Here is the problem.

I want to do the same thing, from my MacBook Pro - to put all of the files from the external disk that my wife wants up to her iCloud. But when I go to login to her account (hers@me.com) I am told that I will not be able to log back in to my iTunes account (his@me.com) for 90 days.

I do not understand. I have an account, my wife has an account, we both have paid for iTunes Match. Why this exclusion?

Anyway around it?

Thank you.

Assuming you're sharing tracks on the external drive, why don't you us a single iTunes Match account, with all your music combined, and just create "his" and "hers" playlists in iTunes? That should work well, provided that combined you don't exceed the 25,000 song limit (not counting songs you purchased from iTunes). And it will save you $25 a year, and makes sharing some music easier.

Anyway, since you wife has her own macbook, your problem is easily resolved by running the "hers" Matching from "her" macbook (or, as I suggested earlier, perhaps by creating a new user account - a "hers" account" - on your macbook). You've chosen to divide your music, Apple is forcing you to adhere to your choice more stringently than you would like - but it's workable.

I think the restriction is meant to prevent cheating - for instance college students using Match to download tracks from each other's accounts - a whole dorm could "share" millions of tracks that way, in just a few days. But like all "piracy" prevention techniques, it has some drawbacks for legitimate users.

Thank you for a prompt, polite and informative response.

A little additional background.

I've been a Mac user since 1986 - Fat Mac with 400k floppies.

I do not consider myself an expert, more of an experienced user.

The reason that I/we have two seperate accounts, and signed up for two seperate iTunes Match accounts is not that my wife and I do not communicate - it is because we though it would be simpler this way (very wrong on this point) and that it would keep her calendar, contacts, notes etc seperate from mine (for various legal and ethical reasons).

i certainly believe, or at least hope, that doing everthing from her macbook would be successful. My point is that while she is more than capable of copying all of the files from our external disk to her macbook and then using itunes match, that I had more time to do this than she currently has.

Also, I tried your suggestion of creating another account on my macbook and logging in to her itunes account - but i get the same message re the 90 day period lockout. It seems that the lockout is attached to a "device" not a "user"

So my solution - we also have another old macbook that we use as our home server/cloud/pogoplug/appletv/Buffalo nas - so i logged into her itunes account, accepted the 90 day lockout and am proceeding to copy the files from our exrenal disk to her icloud account.

And again, I appreciate your comments about "college students" but as someone who has owned a financial software company for over 25 years I find this justification lacking.

My firm has some of the most stringent security software ever written - we process literally billions of $$ of financial transactions every day. We have had our software cliches but we never lost a penny through a security breech.

I have also been involved in more IP litigation - copyright, trademark, non-compete agreements, shareholder agreements than most IP attorneys.

I hate piracy - whether it is software, music, videos, whatever.

But to thwart legitimate users because of "college students" is a little extreme. Most of us went to college. Some of us way before Napster and Limewire existed.

It is interesting that Bill and Steve, two of the biggest college dropouts, should have this attitude.

China is another matter.

Thanks again for your advice.

Hello,

You wondered if "associated device" means a specific user account on a computer instead of the computer itself. I have two accounts on the same Mac (my wife's and mine), each using its own iTunes accounts and I have been locked out of iTunes Match. So it looks like "associated device" really means the computer itself.

In my case, I am wondering whether it is not linked to iTunes 11 somehow. Only one account is using iTunes Match - my wife does not use it at all. However, after iTunes 11 and the changes around "iTunes in the cloud", it seems that using iCloud in iTunes (re-downloading already purchased items or activating automatic download on paired devices) is associating the device to the Apple ID account in the same way iTunes Match is doing. So even if she is not using iTunes Match, I have been locked out of iTunes Match because she used an "iTunes in the cloud" feature from the Mac.

This is really a problem for me...

BRgds

No, it means the *computer* itself, not a user account. You can *authorize* several AppleIDs on one computer, but you can only associate the computer with *one AppleID*, and this can only change once every 90 days.

Association is used for auto-downloads, re-downloads, and music match. Only one AppleID can do this at a time. Here are the rules:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4627

The change with iTunes 11 is that now all your previous purchases appear as cloud content unless you explicitly hide it; however, if someone clicks on that cloud, it will lock out any other users for 90 days.

This is an incredibly stupid rule that prevents no nefarious activity as far as I can tell, but makes life very unpleasant for legitimate, paying customers. I've written very negative feedback and encourage everyone else to do the same.

I am in the same situation where my iTunes Match account has been locked out by Apple on my main computer due to a re-download of another iTunes account of mine. This is extremely ridiculous and I think there's something to do about the record companies. Anyway, I wrote an e-mail to iTunes support to demand the lock out to be lifted or I have to request a refund of my remaining iTunes Match subscription. This stupid restriction is clearly harming the user experience and is the total opposite of 'It just works' mantra of Apple. I probably won't subscribe to iTunes Match again if they cannot lift the ban. 1.5 day has passed and I still haven't received any reply from iTunes.