Comparison of online music lockers

This is a comparison of online music storage services (Cloud Music Services), Internet services that allow uploads of personally owned or licensed music to the cloud for listening on multiple devices.[1]

There were three large services—Amazon Music, Apple's iTunes Match, and Google Play Music[2]—each incorporating an online music store (see comparison), with purchased songs from the associated music store not counting toward storage limits. Other than additional storage space, the main additional feature provided with an annual fee by Apple (and formerly Amazon.com) is "scan-and-match", which examines music files on a computer and adds a copy of matched tracks to the user's music locker without having to upload the files. Google provides both a large amount of storage space and the scan-and-match feature at no cost.

Amazon was the first of the currently significant players to launch their cloud music locker service in late March 2011 and the first to discontinue it on 30 April 2018.[3] Amazon Music launched without obtaining any new music streaming licenses, which upset the major record labels.[4] Google launched their service less than a month and a half later, also without obtaining any new licenses.[5] Apple negotiated with the major record labels for a new license before launching their service six months after Google's. Amazon and Google eventually negotiated licenses before launching their scan-and-match features.

In 2018, Google indicated a transition from Google Play Music to YouTube Music.[6] In May 2020, Google had created a transfer tool to migrate added albums, uploads, history, and playlists.[7] Google shut down Google Play Music on October 22nd, 2020.[8]

For streaming services where a person is unable to upload their own music, but is limited to music provided by the service, such as Pandora Radio and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services. See that article also for information on subscription streaming services provided by four of the companies below (Google Play Music All Access, Apple's Apple Music, Amazon's Prime Music, and Microsoft's Groove Music Pass).

Comparison
MusicSync Media Leap Google Play Music YouTube Music iBroadcast iTunes Match VOX Music Cloud
Owner: MusicSync LLC Media Leap Inc. Google LLC YouTube LLC (Google LLC) iBroadcast Media, LLC Apple Inc. Coppertino Inc.
Launch date: 2020-10-25 2020-12-11 2011 (beta)[9] 2015-11-12 2012-06-15[10] 2011-10-12 2015-04-15[11]
Currently Available: Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Web Client: No Yes Yes[12] Yes Yes No
Windows Client: No No No No Yes No
Android App: Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
iOS App: Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[13]
Other listening platforms: Chromecast,

Android TV, Android Auto

 Android TV, Apple TV, other AirPlay, Chromecast, Sonos[14] Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Sonos, Chromecast, Android TV, Android Auto Apple TV, other AirPlay macOS, Apple TV via AirPlay, Chromecast, Sonos[15]
Upload software: Web browser and via Google Drive client Web browser, in-app upload Windows, macOS, Linux,[16] Web browser[17] Web browser[18] Windows, macOS, Linux, Web browser Windows, macOS VOX Player for Mac, Web browser
Music Format: MP3, MP4/M4A/ALAC/AAC, OGG, OPUS, WMA, FLAC, WAV, APE, WV, TTA, MPC, AIFF, DSD (DFF/DSF), MKA, MPGA, TAK, FLV MP3, OGG, FLAC . MP3[19] AAC[20] AAC, FLAC, MKA, MP3, OGG, PCM AAC, MP3 AAC, AIFF, ALAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA
Filetypes matched: MP3, MP4/M4A/ALAC/AAC, OGG, OPUS, WMA, FLAC, WAV, APE, WV, TTA, MPC, AIFF, DSD (DFF/DSF), MKA, MPGA, TAK, FLV None AAC, ALAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WMA[21] None[22] None AAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, WAV None
Filetypes transcoded: None None AAC, ALAC, FLAC[lower-alpha 1], OGG,[21] WMA,[lower-alpha 2] FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, WMA AIFF, ALAC, WAV None
Maximum file size: No Limit No Limit 300 MB[23] 300 MB 200 MB or 2 hours[24] 250 MB[25]
Free Bitrate: Original Quality Original Quality 320 kbit/s[26][27] 256 kbit/s[18] 128 kbit/s[28] None None
Premium Bitrate: Original Quality Original Quality 320 kbit/s 256 kbit/s 320 kbit/s or Original[29] 256 kbit/s Original Quality
Free Storage:[lower-alpha 3] Limited to Google Drive free plan 1 TB 100,000 files[18] Unlimited None[30] None[31]
Premium Storage: Unlimited 100,000 files Unlimited 100,000 files[lower-alpha 4][32] Unlimited
Premium service features: Unlimited storage Unlimited, ad-free access to music catalog[33] Ads-free, background play, download music offline, use audio-only mode, travel with YouTube Music, shuffle downloads, Apple Carplay & Android Auto compatibility[34] Higher bitrate streaming, equalizer, Android Auto, Carplay
Premium pricing: Based on Google Drive paid plan [35] $5 per month $9.99 per month $9.99 per month (YouTube Music Premium)

$11.99 per month (YouTube Premium)

 Free during Beta, $3.99 per month after launch[36] Annual fee of $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK), €24.99 (FR), $39.99 (AU)

Included with $9.99 per month Apple Music subscription

 $4.99 per month, $49.99 annually (VOX Premium)
Premium service countries: Worldwide 63[37][38] 94 (YouTube Music Premium)[39]

95 (YouTube Premium)[39]

 117[40] Worldwide
  1. Google Play Music transcoding of FLAC to MP3 only supported with 16 and 24-bit stereo or mono FLAC.
  2. Google Play Music only supports WMA transcoding on Windows with Music Manager.
  3. Purchased music files from associated music store do not count toward space limits.
  4. In the United States and Australia, iTunes Match also gets you ad-free iTunes Radio listening.

Former or defunct services
  • Amazon Music storage, started in March 2009, offered storage space for 250 uploaded tracks (MP3 or AAC up to 100MB each) in free version or 250,000 tracks in premium version, as well as web players for major operating systems, Fire TV, Roku, and Sonos sound systems. Amazon did not allow podcasts, ringtones, or audiobooks to be uploaded.[41] Amazon started phasing out cloud storage from December 2017.[42]
  • Best Buy Music Cloud debuted in June 2011 to unfavourable reviews.[43]
  • Google Play Music Music locker, store, and streaming service debuted in May 2011, and shut down October 2020. Google has replaced Play Music with YouTube Music.[44]
  • Groove Music by Microsoft debuted in 2015, linking Microsoft's Groove music player to OneDrive cloud storage. It allowed storing up to 5GB of music in AAC, MP3 and WMA formats. Playback was possible on devices running Windows, iOS or Android as well as Xbox game consoles.
  • Lala started in 2006, was purchased by Apple, and shut down on May 31, 2010.
  • Mougg started in 2010, renamed to Mashup in 2012,[45][46] the domain ceased to function in December 2012. In April 2013, the service returned to its original name.
  • MP3tunes started in late 2005, fought major record labels in Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3Tunes, LLC, and closed in 2012 after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.[47]
  • mSpot Music started in May 2010,[48] was purchased by Samsung,[49] and shut down on October 15, 2012.
  • My.MP3.com started in January 2000, fought major record labels in UMG v. MP3.com, and the service was discontinued by a new owner.[50]
  • Samsung Music Hub was only available for a few Samsung devices[51] and was retired on 1 July 2014.[52]
  • Style Jukebox, debuted in September 2012, offered up to 2TB of music storage (10GB in the trial period) and music players for the common operating systems, and supported all major file formats incl. high-resolution audio. The service was discontinued in December 2017.
  • Ubuntu One only included music features (web and mobile app playback, 20 GB storage) with the paid plan. The service was shut down on 1 June 2014.[53]

See also

References
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  2. Google Music, iTunes Match, and Amazon Cloud Drive: Digital Music Services Comparison Archived 2012-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, PC World, 17 November 2011
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