For music lovers, these services, especially the free ones, are enticing, but they also have their limitations. Rather than review a particular cloud music service, we thought it might be helpful for you to get an overview of the concept and examine some of the benefits and drawbacks of the services in general.

Pros

1. Portability – You can access your music anywhere. With some of the services, that includes your computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and any other web-connected devices. If you are frequently on the go and have many devices, this feature saves you time and memory space on your devices.

2. Purchase and immediate storage – Services like Amazon allow you to purchase your music and have it transferred directly to your cloud storage without having to download to your computer first.

3. Stay in Sync – Rather than constantly uploading and transferring files, many cloud music services keep your devices in sync so that the same MP3s always exist on everything.

4. Mobile Apps – If your music services offers a mobile app for your phone, you can play your songs anywhere and use a familiar interface on your phone.

5. Online backup – One of the disadvantages of digital media in general is that it is only stored electronically. If your hard drive crashes or your MP3 player or phone gets stolen, your music is gone. Using cloud services for online backup, you will have your music stored in one additional place, just in case the unthinkable occurs.

Cons

1. Connectivity required – Cloud music is definitely for the well-connected, and by that, I do not mean you know people in high places. You need reliable Internet connectivity for the service to be of any use to you. If you have a lot of music, you will also need to make sure you do not go over your service provider’s bandwidth cap. According to UK server hosting company 34SP.com, both Comcast and AT&T have instituted caps, and other service providers may follow.

2. Trust – As with any cloud service, you will have to put your trust in them to keep your music files safe. At some point in the future, the company may go out of business, leaving you either without your music or having to perform an emergency backup.

3. Device access limitations – Depending on the service you choose, there may be device access limitations. Some of the players require the Adobe FlashPlayer plugin for your web browser. Others only have apps for devices sold by the company providing the service. With these limitations, you run the risk of vendor lock-in and the possibility of a time-consuming download and transfer to another service.

4. The legal struggle – As the consumer, you may think it does not affect you, but it does. The recording industry wants a piece of the pie from music lockers, and they are will to play dirty to get it. Forget the fact that you likely already paid for the music and should be able to do what you want with it. Record companies want these services to pay licenses to store and stream the music, even for private use. Some companies have been reluctant to give in to outlandish demands, and that means the future and profitability of these services is questionable.

Cloud music storage has been around for quite a while. Some online companies do nothing else and have provided the service for years as their sole form of business. It has only recently received attention because of the large companies that have taken an interest in it, namely Google, Amazon, Apple, and, most recently, Best Buy.

For those who are already heavy users of digital media, a service for online backup, syncing, and streaming makes sense. The trick for users will be finding services that work well for them and their devices with as few disadvantages as possible.

Tavis J. Hampton is a seasoned writer with a decade of experience in IT, web publishing, and free and open source software. Some of his services include writing, web design, electronic publishing, and information management.

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