iTunes Match released today

Remember how Apple announced that it would be wiping all iTunes Match libraries over the weekend? Well, it looks like speculations were right – iTunes Match was going to launch, and it turns out – today is the day of the launch. While it missed its end of October deadline, the highly-anticipated service from Apple is finally here.

In case you forgot, iTunes Match is a service that gives users the benefits of iCloud to all their music – even if it wasn’t purchased from the iTunes Store. Any music that has a match will automatically be added to the users’ iCloud account – without requiring the user to manually upload those songs. The same songs can then be streamed or downloaded onto other devices of the owner. However, if users have songs that can’t be found on Apple’s library, they can upload the music they have themselves.

iTunes Match costs $24.99 a year to use. It is included with the latest version of iTunes 10.5.1 which was just pushed out today. How many of you plan to use the service? Let us know what you think about it. Find out more.