Apple increases track limits for iCloud Music Library to 100,000

As promised by Eddy Cue, the Apple's SVP of Internet software and services, the company has raised the limits on iTunes Match and Apple music library for matched songs from 25,000 to 100,000. Eddy Cue promised back in June to adjust the cap on iTunes music library before the end of the year, and now the company has delivered just in time, upping the maximum limit to a whooping 100,000 tracks.

The iCloud is a music Library is an online collection of music that is fed by two services: iTunes Match and Apple Music.

According to Engadget, iTunes match is like an online music locker; it scans your iTunes collection and gives access to any tracks it already has on its servers to any of your devices. Additionally, it uploads any songs it can't find and lets you access or download them with all your registered devices. It costs $24.99 a year.

Apple Music works in a similar fashion alongside its streaming options, but with one key difference. Its scan and match feature includes DRM, so even though you can download them they will cease to function if you cancel your subscription. Apple Music costs £9.99 per month, or £14.99 per month for those who opt for the family plan.

9to5mac says that this means users with larger music libraries can now enjoy the benefits of the matching songs in the iTunes Cloud to make them available on all their devices. Matching songs give gives another option for people who can't afford the more expensive 64 GB or 128 GB iPhone models by offloading local storage music to cloud

Apple is strengthening its Apple Music service significantly in the last few months of the year. It rolled out Apple Music for Android in November and has announced support for Sonos home speaker systems beginning December 15th.

The previous 25,000-track limit of Apple's services didn't fair too well against similar services offered by Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Google Play Music lets even non-paying subscribers store 50,000, while Microsoft's Groove Music lets you play any track in your OneDrive for free. Amazon only offers 250 tracks for free, but for the same $24.99 per year as iTunes Match you get storage for 250,000 tracks. But with the increased storage, the iCloud Music Library is once again competitive.