Apple has finally launched its iTunes Match feature in the UK marketplace.

The iTunes Match is a feature in the company's iCloud platform - the online storage facility that allows iOS users to store songs, videos, images and other files to access them anytime, from any location with any iOS running device, or even from Macs or a Windows PC. The iTunes Match was first released in the US market earlier this year.

There were reports earlier in the year, however, that some iCloud users in the UK, along with some of their counterparts in Canada and Australia were able to sign up in the iTunes Match service even though it was not made officially available in those regions.

"The key advantage is iTunes Match allows you to stream and store all of your songs to any of your devices, not just your purchased iTunes music,"said  an Apple spokesman in a statement to the BBC.

"Uploading to iTunes Match doesn't change anything in your music library, unless you choose to download from the cloud and replace the original tracks," he added. The new offering has been priced at £21.99 per year. This is an exciting service for those who enjoy downloading music and other media.