• All Things D, Wednesday, August 31, 2011 11:55 AM

About that cloud-based iTunes Match developer beta that Apple just debuted, and which most analysts celebrated for its ability to stream songs. As it turns out, the new service might not technically "stream" anything.

"An Apple spokesperson confirms that any music you want to access from your cloud-based 'locker' will still need to be stored on your iPad, or iPhone, or whatever device you're using to listen to the song," All Things D reports. "This applies both to music you've purchased from Apple's iTunes store, and, when Apple's iTunes Match service starts up this fall, with music you've acquired some other way."

Referring to a video demonstration that made the rounds on Monday, Apple tells All Things D that what looked like a "stream" is actually a "simultaneous listen and download -- users can hear the song while their machine ingests it." Cutting hairs? Perhaps. But Apple was apparently unwilling to go into further detail about how the forthcoming service will work.

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