Apple has just released the company's newest feature which is the iTunes Match. This feature requires a subscription fee of US$24.99 annually and it grants access to the user's personal iTunes library saved in the iCloud through other devices.

Despite the hype of iTunes Match, many people are still confused about how to use this feature. In order to maximize this feature, here are some simple steps on how access and utilize iTunes Match:

In order for iTunes Match to work, users should check if they have the latest iTunes version. In order to verify it through Mac, first go to iTunes and the check "About iTunes". If you do not have the latest version which is 10.5.1, go to iTunes and then proceed to check for updates in order to install and download the latest version. In terms of verifying the version through a PC, access "About iTunes" as well and then go to Help menu and choose check for updates.

After installing the updates and upgrading to iTunes version 10.5.1, users would be able to view iTunes Match listed under Store located in the left panel. Click it and then click on the blue sign saying "Subscribe for $24.99". After clicking it, iTunes would automatically start scanning the user's library before it could match the songs from the huge library of songs in the iCloud. After scanning, it would then upload the songs (as well as the artwork) that wasn't matching. After the matching process, users can now access the matched/uploaded songs in the cloud from other devices with iTunes or from an iOS device. Apple iTunes allows access of 10 computers and iOS devices.

In order to add an iOS device, go to Settings and then select Music. After selecting Music, there should be a new menu item stating iTunes Match located at the top. Switch the slider to on, enter the Apple ID password and then choose Enable. After enabling it, a new menu item will appear in the Settings, Music Screen: Show All Music. Through the "Show All Music On", all the songs uploaded from the library to the cloud will be visible in the Music app. If this selection is off, it will only show downloaded songs. iTunes Match doesn't have the ability to stream music but it can download a song when it is playing.

For accessing iTunes Match from another computer, the first step is to ensure that it is running an updated version of the iTunes 10.5.1. After checking, enter the Apple account details and then click on iTunes Match located at the left-hand column. Apple would then prompt a question asking to "Add This Computer", click this button in order to add the computer. After that, it would proceed on scanning, matching, and uploading the songs to the library. Users should take note that only one iTunes library can be matched at one time so it is better to finish the first library before moving on to the next one.

After doing the set-up in the second computer, users would have access to all of the songs that they have matched from the first computer and at the same time, the computer and other iOS devices that were enabled would be able to access the songs from the library. In iTunes, there is an icon (cloud with an arrow) that users could click to instantly download the song which is different from an iOS device wherein users could play a song from the cloud in iTunes without the option of downloading it.