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.Cloud Music Comparison: What’s the Best Service for Streaming Your Library Everywhere? , Lifehacker, 15 June 2011

Previously, there were three large services—Amazon Music, Apple's iTunes Match, and YouTube MusicGoogle Music, iTunes Match, and Amazon Cloud Drive: Digital Music Services Comparison , PC World, 17 November 2011—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) was "scan-and-match", which examined music files on a computer and added a copy of matched tracks to the user's music locker without having to upload the files. Google provided both a large amount of storage space and the scan-and-match feature at no cost.

Amazon was the first of the initially-significant players to launch their cloud music locker service, in late March 2011, and the first to discontinue it, on 30 April 2018. Amazon Music launched without obtaining any new music streaming licenses, which upset the major record labels.Amazon faces backlash over "music locker" service , Reuters, Phil Wahba and Paul Thomasch, Mar 29, 2011 Amazon eventually negotiated licenses before launching scan-and-match.

Google launched their service less than a month and a half after Amazon, also without obtaining any new licenses.Unlicensed: Are Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player illegal? , Ars Technica, July 4, 2011 Like Amazon, Google eventually negotiated licenses before launching scan-and-match. In 2018, Google announced a transition from Google Play Music to YouTube Music, and in May, 2020, Google had created a transfer tool to migrate added albums, uploads, history, and playlists. On October 22, 2020, Google Play Music was discontinued.

Apple was the last of the first three services to launch, which they did on October 12, 2011. However, Apple had negotiated ahead of time with the major record labels for new licenses. Apple's product is the only of the three to remain in operation today (see iTunes Match, below).

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 YouTube Music iTunes Match Owner: YouTube LLC (Google LLC) Apple Inc. Launch date: 2015-11-12 2011-10-12Currently Available: Web Client: Windows Client: Android App: iOS App: Vox Plays Any Music File on iOS, Streams Music from a New Music Locker , CNET, April 15, 2015 Other listening platforms:Google Home, Sonos, Chromecast, Android TV, Android Auto Apple TV, other AirPlay Upload software:Web browser Windows, macOS Music Format: AAC AAC, MP3 Filetypes matched: AAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, WAV Filetypes transcoded: FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, WMA AIFF, ALAC, WAV Maximum file size: 300 MB 200 MB or 2 hoursiTunes Store: Subscribing to iTunes Match , Apple.comFree Bitrate: 256 kbit/s Premium Bitrate:256 kbit/s256 kbit/s Free Storage: 100,000 songssupport.google.com "Upload music to your YouTube Music library" Premium Storage: 100,000 songs Premium service features:Ads-free, background play, download music offline, use audio-only mode, travel with YouTube Music, shuffle downloads, Apple Carplay & Android Auto compatibility Premium pricing: $9.99 per month (YouTube Music Premium) $11.99 per month (YouTube Premium) Annual fee of $24.99 (US), £21.99 (UK), €24.99 (FR), $39.99 (AU) Included with $9.99 per month Apple Music subscription Premium service countries: 94 (YouTube Music Premium) 95 (YouTube Premium) 117iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match Availability , Apple Support

Former or defunct services Amazon Music storage, started in March 2009, offered storage space for 250 uploaded tracks (MP3 or AAC up to 100 MB 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.Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player take on iTunes Match. Who wins? , Ars Technica, January 17, 2013 Amazon started phasing out cloud storage from December 2017. Best Buy Music Cloud debuted in June 2011 to unfavourable reviews.Best Buy's Music Cloud: Skip It, For Now , PCMag.com, June 22, 2011 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. Groove Music by Microsoft debuted in 2015, linking Microsoft's Groove music player to OneDrive cloud storage. It allowed storing up to 5 GB 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. 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.Music labels force pioneering MP3tunes into bankruptcy , Ars Technica, May 14, 2012 mSpot Music started in May 2010,mSpot New Music Cloud Service , May 19, 2010 was purchased by Samsung,Samsung boosts its mobile ecosystem with mSpot purchase , GigaOM, May 9, 2012 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.Amazon AutoRip: How the labels held back progress for 14 years , Ars Technica, January 11, 2013 Samsung Music Hub was only available for a few Samsung devicesmSpot Music is closing on October 15, 2012 , mSpot blog, 9/19/2012 and was retired on 1 July 2014.Samsung to retire Music Hub streaming service , CNet.com Style Jukebox, debuted in September 2012, offered up to 2 TB of music storage (10 GB 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.

Comparison of online music lockers

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