iTunes Match (1 , 2 (Link to http://www.iphone5gfeatures.com/new-version-of-itunes-launched-includes-itunes-match/) is a service that matches ripped tracks to iTunes quality and maintains all of it in the iCloud. It is available as $25 a year service for all iDevice users.

According to a report by CultOfMac , there is a bug in iTunes Match that is playing clean versions of some selective rap songs even when their censored counterparts are present in iTunes Library.

One of the readers of 9To5Mac emailed Eddy Cue (SVP of Internet Software and Services at Apple) regarding this issue and got a reply that Apple engineers were working on a fix.

Some of the tracks that have been replaced are:

1. Song by Ice Cube: “Jack N The Box” from his album Raw Footage
2. Two song by Kanye West: “Hell Of A Life” and “Power” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
3. Song by Jay-Z: “Can I Live” fromhis album Reasonable Doubt

Songs are tagged “Clean” and “Explicit” so that users can distinguish between songs that have profanity and those that haven’t. The bug in iTunes Match makes the software to ignore user’s preference and replaces “explicit” versions of songs with “clean” ones. People have been complaining about this for a couple of weeks now. Though profanity in exists in several genres of songs, problem has been reported by rap music fans primarily.

Apple replied to one of reader’s query but did not suggest any temporary workaround.

Mashable itself carried out a test by uploading a ripped copy of Jay-Z’s The Black Album (with explicit lyrics). This explicit song was replaced by its clean version when played. However, this bug does not mess with the music that is purchased on iTunes. This means that some info must be present in tag files that are linked with the music format chosen by Apple (AAC), with the help of which one can distinguish a song as “explicit” or “clean”. This detail is not replicated in mp3 music files for sure.

iTunes Match has also been found suffering form issues like “Genius” feature turning dormant. This feature, when active, allowed users to make playlists of songs that sounded similar.

If you too are annoyed by any such problems, do let us know!