Why didn't I think about this before I bought this CD off iTunes?!

[deathtolife04]

OK Today I just bought this AMAZING CD off iTunes, and there's this song i wanted to send to a friend because it's AWESOME!

but then i realized that it has that stupid block thing on it and i'd have to give my friend my iTunes username/password for her to listen to it!!!!!!!

Is there any way to get around this?!
I tried changing the format from .mp4 to .mp3, but it said you can't convert copywrited files!

I've bought stuff off iTunes before, why did I never realize this?! I don't know I feel dumb now....I wish I wouldn't have bought this off iTunes!!! UGHHHH!

Is there any way around this?! Just so I can send it to a friend....

Otherwise I guess I'll have to wait a few months and just pay the extra 30 cents per track err whatever....

 

[Kash]

That, my friend, is called DRM.

I know how to get rid of the DRM using Windows programs, but not with Macs. Only way I can tell you how to get around it is by burning the album to CD and then ripping the CD into MP3 format.

 

[baggss]

Well, you could burn it to an audio CD and then rip it back to MP3 or AAC. You'll lose some quality though.

 

[christm]

as the other two have said.

Burn that track to a cd and re-import it as an mp3 and send it to your friend.

 

[Rambaud]

You can use a CD-RW to save on CDs.

There is also a program called DRM Dumpster, which seems to do the same thing, although I have not tried it.

http://www.burningthumb.com/drmdumpster.html

I believe the highest bit rate is 128kps from the iStore?

 

[yogi]

Got to the future and hope the song is published by EMI.

 

[dtownley1]

wasn't that DRM limitation lifted recently? I remember seeing that on the news - that for a slightly higher price, you can purchase songs with absolutely no limitations - you're free to do with them what you like. I don't think this applied to all songs - perhaps only those released after this.

 

[MacHeadCase]

Yeah it's what yogi was talking about, Apple and EMI signed an agreement for selling DRM-free tunes at the iTunes Music Store: Apple Unveils Higher Quality DRM-Free Music on the iTunes Store.

From the press release:

April 2, 2007—Apple today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.

“We are going to give iTunes customers a choice—the current versions of our songs for the same 99 cent price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 30 cents more,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.” ...

Hopefully, other record labels will join the parade soon! Let the RIAA and their goon tactics rot. LOL

 

[Rambaud]

Is 256 kbps AAC encoding " indistinguishable from the original recording"?

I suspect that could be true with (say) an iPod and cheap headphones in a gym environment.

I have not tried listeneing in that format yet.

 

[gh11]

Thats illegal anyway

 

[walkerj]

I disagree with the 'loss of quality' issue when burning an iTunes purchased song. Doug of Dougscripts.com has a bit of an explaination here http://dougscripts.com/itunes/ixarch/arch.php?my=2006-12 but the summary is that if a song is encoded at 128kbps or 256 or whatever and you re-encode it you're not losing quality because there is nothing really to lose.

I do know that when I record internet streams and then later encode them at the same bit-rate that they were originally played in the stream to .mp3 the sound is indistinguishable from the original .aiff or .wav that I've saved off.

Audiophiles need not apply. You need to go out and buy vinyl and HD DVD to work with your stereo systems that cost more than all the cars I've purchased in my 39 years of existance.

So on the equipment we're talking about here (iPods, computers, earbuds) burn away to CD to strip that gawd-awful DRM and re-import those tunes to do whatever you want with them.

Of course, sharing is, you know, all that and all and keep buying those iTunes (especially the forthcoming EMI records DRM free tunes; I will if there's anything in their catalog that I'm interested in and willing to spend the buck-39p on) so that the music producing people can continue to eat.

For the "oh, that's illegal crowd" here's a little thought experiment:

Say I have Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album on CD (which I do; purchased in 1989 if I remember correctly at $39 in late 80s $$'s) in my car to listen while I'm driving. (I don't because it's on my iPod, but bear with me.) I park in the local quick-e-mart (Wawa in my neighborhoods) and run in to get a sandwich. While I'm in there paying for my sandwich an unruly teenager sees my Floyd CD and snatches it out of my unlocked car. Theft? You betcha.

Now imagine I'm in the same parking lot, but now the kid has a laptop computer. Instead of snatching my CD, he grabs it, puts it into his laptop (Windows, of course, kids using Macs don't do wrong) and rips the CD to his iTunes (or Windows Media, or whatever) and puts it back in my car. Has he committed theft? Well...that's for the lawyers to sort out; some would say sure he has. Am I liable for this purloined music? You betcha! That shows up on some bit-torrent and it came from me, so I must be a theif, right? Eh, it's not so clear is it? RIAA will be happy to sue me if they can get away with it. All I was doing was getting a sandwich. Am I supposed to keep an eye on my car to keep unruly teenagers with laptops from stealing their music? I think not, but that's the world the RIAA would like you to believe you live it.

Anyway, burn to CD and re-import at whatever bitrate the file was at in the first place shouldn't result in a loss of quality, whether you rip it from someone's car in a Wawa parking lot or from your own iTunes purchase.