As of yesterday, iTunes Match has been made available for use for iTunes users and iOS device owners. For $24.99 a year, you can sync your entire music collection to Apple’s iCloud. Chances are your music library consists of music purchased from iTunes and music ripped from your personal collection of CDs. Apple will automatically match all your purchased songs from iTunes and they will become immediately available to listen to on a compatible device. As for your ripped music, Apple will also attempt to match them to their music servers and upload them that way. If they can’t, they will still be uploaded and made available for streaming at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality. Apple limits iTunes Match subscribers to 25,000 songs, but keep in mind that music purchased from the iTunes Store does not count towards that ceiling. To get started, make sure you have downloaded the new iTunes 10.5.1 update, the iOS 5 update, and set up iCloud on your iOS device (and Mac and/or PC).

[Via Apple]