If you use an iPhone to download digital music and other types of audio from the Internet, then you've probably used more than just the iTunes Store to source media. If this is the case, then you'll want to make sure that all your downloads are correctly backed up.

iCloud is built into the iPhone and is a convenient alternative to using software. However, is it good enough to fully backup all the audio on your iOS device?

Read on to see the differences between iCloud and transfer software -- and which one is ultimately the best for backing up your device.

Option 1: Use iCloud to Backup

iCloud may sound like the natural option to backup every song on your iPhone, but what about non-iTunes purchases? Songs and albums that you purchase from the iTunes Store are automatically stored in iCloud and can be conveniently downloaded to all your iOS devices and computers. However, music from other online services (such as Amazon MP3 and Rhapsody) don't get backed up to iCloud. Similarly, if you have transferred music CDs to your iPhone, then these won't be in your iCloud storage either -- you'll need to subscribe to iTunes Match for that.

Then there's audiobooks, ringtones, and alert tones. These can't be re-downloaded from 'iTunes in the cloud' so you'll need to use software to back them up.

The main thing to remember about using iCloud for music is that only iTunes songs are backed up. If that's all you've got then iCloud could be a good option.

However, a small caveat to think about...

Will my iTunes song purchases always be available in iCloud?

All the songs you have purchased from the iTunes Store will be safely stored in iCloud, but what about availability in the future? There's no guarantee that all your past purchases from the iTunes Store will always be available to download. This is because the content needs to be in the iTunes Store. If Apple decides to remove some of this content, then you won't be able to download it from iCloud.

Option 2: Use Third-party Software to Backup

The backup feature in iTunes doesn't transfer music, audiobooks or Podcasts from the iPhone to your iTunes library (only on a new computer), so you'll need to use third-party software. There are now many options available (some free) for transferring all the data from your iPhone to a computer (or even another iDevice).

The advantage of storing your music locally on external storage for example is that you will always have a backup and not have to rely on iCloud (and if the songs you've purchased are still in the iTunes Store).

The downside is if you lose your backup (due to data corruption etc.), then you won't be able to recover non-iTunes songs, audiobooks, and podcasts without re-downloading / purchasing them again.

Multiple Backup Strategies

It's often best to use more than one backup strategy and so you might want to think about using both the above options. Use iCloud for re-downloading past purchases conveniently, but also store a local backup that contains everything from your iPhone.