iTunes Match & Classical Music

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Level 1

11 points

iTunes Match & Classical Music

It seems to me that iTunes (and iTunes Match) are primarily designed for pop music and the like, hence the constant use of the word "songs". My iTunes library consists of classical albums (all with artwork) and in some cases I'll have two are more albums containing different readings of the same work. The works are divided into movements and each movement generally is one track. Hence a symphony with five movements will have five tracks (not songs!). I am thinking of using iTunes Match, and my question is this: when iTunes Store tries to match my albums with their 26 million songs, if they find that they have, e.g. Beethoven Symphony 9, will they match that to mine even though it may not be the version that I have? What I am really asking is: if I use iTunes Match will I end up with EXACTLY what I already have in iTunes on my iMac?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Feb 15, 2013 9:57 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ed2345

Level 9

62,858 points

Feb 15, 2013 11:17 AM in response to tomtreb

What I am really asking is: if I use iTunes Match will I end up with EXACTLY what I already have in iTunes on my iMac?

No you will not. iTunes Match, although it is getting better, is famous for confusing Clean and Explicit versions, Spanish and English versions, mono and stereo versions, and getting a just plain wrong match. I can't even imagine that you will get 100% accuracy on a classical collection.

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Answer 2

tomtreb Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 15, 2013 11:36 AM in response to ed2345

Thanks ed2345 for a quick reply, very helpful and you've confirmed the suspicions I had when I asked the question.

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Answer 3

Feb 15, 2013 3:57 PM in response to tomtreb

Hi,

I have found that Classical matches in general work fine. Like you I have different versions of the same piece of music. I have not had any instance where one symphony has been matched with another version.

Unlike mismatched clean/explicit, mono/stereo or Spanish/English versions, there is usually significant sound differences between different versions of the same piece of music. I am not saying it couldn't happen but the chances are slim.

Jim

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Answer 4

Sep 18, 2013 8:45 PM in response to tomtreb

I only listen to classical music on my iTunes, and when my spouse installed iTunes Match for me it was a bad experience

First of all all my playlists and play counts disappeared. Then, everything iTunes found a match it would rename that album to whatever it was called in the store. Well classical alb,a don't usually have titles, so any old thing would pop up. One album came out as "featuring Vladimir Horowitz" with no indication of what the music was. I had organized my entire library by composer and piece, so this was really heart attack inducing for me.

In the end, I wasted the 25 dollars by turning it off permanently, and using my Mac time capsule to restore my library to the version before iTunes matched was installed. In my opinion it is NOT good for classical music lovers.

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