The day Itunes unlocked music

[hal]

Today you can download or upgrade if you have allready purchased to a non DRM version that you can back up, burn, play in other media etc. I hope it catches on as I think it is a much fairer model. Ya, the news is old but it is a fact today. Go Go empowered consumers!!

[Big Gulp]

Today you can download or upgrade if you have allready purchased to a non DRM version that you can back up, burn, play in other media etc. I hope it catches on as I think it is a much fairer model. Ya, the news is old but it is a fact today. Go Go empowered consumers!!

Ah, is that what the iTunes update I just installed mere minutes ago was all about?

[Miasma]

Today you can download or upgrade if you have allready purchased to a non DRM version that you can back up, burn, play in other media etc. I hope it catches on as I think it is a much fairer model. Ya, the news is old but it is a fact today. Go Go empowered consumers!!

You could always burn the songs.  Then you just rip from the CD you made to get nice mp3s.  This will be much less hassle now though, good stuff.  I'm pretty sure it's only available from a limited number of labels though.

Oh, and they hide your name/email/god-knows-what-else in the song's file so be sure you don't "share" it or else they will know exactly where it came from...

[hal]

Ya, in my case it was just the Stones. But Sympathy for the Devil is a kicking song. It is a start.

[Chimpy]

This is just for the EMI stuff that they had the press release about a month or so ago.

[Trippy]

The selection is very very limited right now as Chimpy implied above. The nice thing is that they are higher bitrate as well (256 Kbps vs 128 Kbps).

[Mandrel]

They also cost more per song. $1.29 IIRC.

[Chimpy]

They also cost more per song. $1.29 IIRC.

But if you have already purchased the "standar" you get the option to upgrade for 30cents a song.

[Xanthippe]

Well, it's kind of broken tonight.  I've been trying to download the upgraded version of a song for an hour, and it's not working.

But the other song that actually worked sounds really... richl.  To my old ears even, which aren't that great, but despite that, there's a huge difference in fullness of sound.

I wish I could upgrade all of my songs but there's just no way - it would cost a fortune.

[Tebonas]

It bit me in the ass that I burned and ripped my downloaded songs once in a while and deleted the originals to get rid of the DRM. Obviously I could only upgrade the songs not changed in that regard yet. Those I upgraded certainly sounded better to my untrained ears, though.

By the way, if you buy a whole album, the price is the same regardless of DRM.

[Chimpy]

It bit me in the ass that I burned and ripped my downloaded songs once in a while and deleted the originals to get rid of the DRM. Obviously I could only upgrade the songs not changed in that regard yet. Those I upgraded certainly sounded better to my untrained ears, though.

By the way, if you buy a whole album, the price is the same regardless of DRM.

It should have them on record and allow you to re-download them.

I downloaded one of the free songs once and it literally would re-download it every time I connected to the store after I deleted it.

That is one of the selling points early on was that your purchase history is saved so you never "lose" your music.

[Tebonas]

I don't think so. Maybe in the distant past:

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Store, you are entitled to download it only once.

When you buy a song, video, game, or album from the iTunes Store, you are entitled to download it a single time. If you want to download it again, you must purchase it again. You can copy downloaded content between authorized computers.

Thats the reason why I burned and ripped them in the first place. Safekeeping even if I change my computer often.

[Sky]

I only have two songs, neither is upgradeable. I'm A Man by Bo Diddley and 99 Problems A-capella by Jay-Z. The Jay-Z tune because I'm writing a blues song based on it. And they were free when I bought some tickets through ticketmaster.

[Tebonas]

It seems songs you don't have in your purchased list anymore are still upgradeable. Just discovered that while synching my iPod. Neat that. Just hope the other labels follow soon with those no DRM versions.

[Samwise]

It should have them on record and allow you to re-download them.

That's one of my biggest gripes about the iTunes store.  It should, but it doesn't.

[Venkman]

The selection is very very limited right now as Chimpy implied above. The nice thing is that they are higher bitrate as well (256 Kbps vs 128 Kbps).

Apple has stated they plan for this to be rolled out over 50% of their library (which means whoever else they can bring around to this) by end of this year.

These song files have some personal data on them though. A few theories as to why. Personally, the analog hole (burn CD, re-rip it) remains a good way to maintain privacy if that concerns ya.

[Trippy]

There's no need to burn them to a CD and rerip since there's no, you know, DRM on them. Just convert them straight to another format (assuming you have a program other than QuickTime that can read AAC) and all the heinous AAC metadata and watermarking will disappear.

[Venkman]

What's the more widespread tool though for the average person who may be concerned by privacy: burning CDs straight from the iTunes client or getting some program that can consistently, easily and reliably strip the metadata from the songs?

I would go the latter route, as would you, as would probably anyone here. But I'm thinking of the millions of iPod owners like my sister who couldn't even find the model number on her PC when I asked for it (to upgrade her RAM) ;)

[Chimpy]

You know, as much as everyone is all hot about this whole user tagging on the non DRM songs, it is entirely possible that Apple overlooked that part of their code when they added the non DRM songs to the store.

[Trippy]

You know, as much as everyone is all hot about this whole user tagging on the non DRM songs, it is entirely possible that Apple overlooked that part of their code when they added the non DRM songs to the store.

The user tagging stuff was in the DRM'd files, they just weren't as noticable since those are encrypted. More interesting is what other crap Apple may be putting in the non-DRM'd files:

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005282.php

[schild]

I'm proud to say I've never bought a single track off iTunes, and I won't. You get what you pay for.

[Azazel]

I agree with schild.

[hal]

I am not now, nor have I ever been a salesman for Apple Computer Corp. I think the current state of DRM is too tight. I think if you have bought a piece of music, a song if you will, you are entitled to free use, play it in your car, at home, perhaps you have a personnel device. I think Steve and Bill would agree with this. You do not have the right to make 1000 copies and sell 999 of them. But you do have the right to free and unhindered personnel use. I think this is a step in that direction. Of course, these are only my thoughts.

[Merusk]

I'm proud to say I've never bought a single track off iTunes, and I won't. You get what you pay for.

It's worth $.99 to me to pickup a copy of the songs I can't normally find, or don't want to pay the full disk price for.  I've far too much to lose to put on the eyepatch these days.

[CharlieMopps]

I still don't get why people use iTunes. I mean really... why?

[Trippy]

I still don't get why people use iTunes. I mean really... why?

Like Merusk said sometimes all you really want is one or two tracks off an album and you don't want to pay $12.99 or whatever for it. They also have albums that are out of print so are hard to find in stores or are imports without the imports price.

[hal]

For me

1) its the right thing to do. It is legal and the artist gets there cut meager though it is.

2) It is easy. On the thought I can download a song.

[CharlieMopps]

Buy the album used on Amazon or Ebay for a $1 to $3, it doesnt even have to be playable since you are only buying it for the Itelectual property rights.
the second your credit card is charged you own it (should happen instantly)
Download the MP3s via your favorite file-sharing medium
everything is legal, and you got the whole album for the price of 1 to 3 songs on Itunes.

If you want the artist to make real money, buy a T-shirt. I've had 3 different band members tell me that to my face. Musicians dont start making money off of albums until the band is HUGE and can negotiate a fair contract. Until then the music company screws them.

[Big Gulp]

It's worth $.99 to me to pickup a copy of the songs I can't normally find, or don't want to pay the full disk price for.  I've far too much to lose to put on the eyepatch these days.

$10 a month gets you either Rhapsody or Napster (I prefer Napster).  Open up a copy of Audacity while you're playing tracks you want, and voila, you're building a worthy little collection with no fear of the RIAA's goons.

[Sky]

If you want the artist to make real money, buy a T-shirt. I've had 3 different band members tell me that to my face. Musicians dont start making money off of albums until the band is HUGE and can negotiate a fair contract. Until then the music company screws them.

Seriously, if you dig someone's music, load up at the merch counter. I always buy at least one t-shirt there, and that's also the best place to buy their cds if they don't offer them directly from their website.

Though I wouldn't bother downloading mp3 versions of songs  FLAC is catching on, I bought a great Haynes/Allman album direct in FLAC format + all the artwork last year.

Don't even get me started on buying albums from dead artists...

[Merusk]

It's worth $.99 to me to pickup a copy of the songs I can't normally find, or don't want to pay the full disk price for.  I've far too much to lose to put on the eyepatch these days.

$10 a month gets you either Rhapsody or Napster (I prefer Napster).  Open up a copy of Audacity while you're playing tracks you want, and voila, you're building a worthy little collection with no fear of the RIAA's goons.

That's great if you buy tons of music.  I don't.  I've bought about 15 tunes in the last 2 years.  Diffrn't strokes, and all that.

 

Don't even get me started on buying albums from dead artists...

Wait.. you mean a portion of my $1.05 didn't go towards Joplin's estate? Those bastards!