Itunes to go DRM Free

[Lorini]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/itunes-going-primarily-drm-free/

Finally. Of course for those of us in the know, just use double twist (www.doubletwist.com) to get rid of drm on previously purchased music. Of course perhaps the .30 upgrade gets you a better sounding tune, but I haven't noticed any issues with mine.

[Chowhound]

That's actually pretty damn cool.

[Brendan]

The rest of the entertainment industry is realising that DRM is the kiss of death but game publishers just keep on truckin'.

[TimElhajj]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/itunes-going-primarily-drm-free/

Finally. Of course for those of us in the know, just use double twist (www.doubletwist.com) to get rid of drm on previously purchased music. Of course perhaps the .30 upgrade gets you a better sounding tune, but I haven't noticed any issues with mine.

Ohhhh, doubletwist looks like a winner to me, especially considering the agony I experienced trying to get a few songs from my iTunes library to my son's new PSP.

[Cyrano]

Good move, but I'll be sticking with Amazon whenever they have what I'm looking for.

[Lum]

iTunes Plus is 256kbps as opposed to iTunes standard of 128kbps. It's hard to tell the difference unless you're a supertaster.

[noun]

Now all Apple has to do is make their site work outside of iTunes and they'll be able to compete with Amazon. Until that happens, Amazon's one click purchase and easily moved/edited files are the clear winner for me.

[AndrewM]

They are also moving away from their "everything is 99 cents" pricing.

[Cubit]

They are also moving away from their "everything is 99 cents" pricing.

Yeah, a lot of their "older" music will be 69 cents. That will make a difference when I'm choosing to buy from amazon or apple.

[spiffy]

iTunes Plus is 256kbps as opposed to iTunes standard of 128kbps. It's hard to tell the difference unless you're a supertaster.

Yeah, how discernable is the difference anyway? I've been ripping my old cd's at 192 kbps, just because I'd hate to be cheaping myself out of quality, but I know I must have tons of stuff at 128 and I can't say I've noticed any jump between the two. Do you need $100 headphones or a serious sound system to make 256 worthwhile?

[Funkula]

I can hear a difference between 128 and 160, at least in MP3 format. It's not really noticeable unless it's electronic music with very precise sound, though. If I listen to the same Amon Tobin song back to back in both compressions, I can tell which one is higher bitrate.

However, I don't think it's that important for something like rock where there's more noise in the track, and I can't tell the difference between bitrates above 160.

[Coca Cola Zero]

With mp3 files 128kbps is horrible, I can easily hear the problems. AAC at 128kbps sounds fine to me, though. If you're ripping to mp3, keep ripping at 192kbps. The two formats have very different encoding systems and mp3 needs a higher bitrate to sound as good as AAC.

[Rimbo]

I notice a huge difference between 256kbps and 128kbps in rock music and in classical music -- anything with lots of high-frequency sounds.

[Cubit]

With storage space so cheap now, its easier to just rip everything to 320kb/s MP3 and be done with it.

[Rimbo]

yay I want my drm-free shiznit

Cubit: I actually rip my classical music using lossless compression. I get about 1/3 the original size.

[Creole Ned]

I noticed it's 40 cents to upgrade songs on the Canadian iTunes store. Boo, Apple, boo.

[Jason Becker]

.30 per song to un-drm your music(or I assume to just actually DL a non-drm'd version of it) for something you already paid for, ohh and you have to do the whole catalog if ya want. Gotta love that "Apple Tax" at work again...

Thank god I never got sucked into the scam that is iTunes.

[dermot]

Maybe they need to recoup their costs? Bandwidth and disk space aren't free.

[Skipper]

Thank god I never got sucked into the scam that is iTunes.

Not so much a scam as a pass-on from most of the record companies. I understand the ire, but at least recognize that some underlying good has come from iTunes, especially with it's push to digital distribution and rounding up everyone under one roof (though they have had issues with that lately.)

The lowering of prices recently on iTunes was a very nice thing. For what it's worth, I don't consider iTunes evil at all. I consider the record execs that refused to allow digital distribution at all for so long the real culprit, as well as the same execs who wanted to set their own pricing, refuse to sell individual songs, or non-DRM songs, and the other antics they had as the current lowest ranking scum of the earth.

[dermot]

Also, look at it this way: you were happy enough to buy the tracks knowing that they were encumbered with DRM; it's not like the tracks you've already bought are somehow diminished. Having said that, I'm a bit annoyed that I bought a few non-Plus albums *last* week on iTMS - if I'd known they were removing the DRM for so many more albums I'd have held off but c'est la vie, particularly when it comes to Apple. I've just bought myself an iPod Touch and I fully expect it to be superceded approximately 25 minutes after I open the box.

[EvilIdler]

I can hear if certain songs are MP3 at lower bitrates (by "lower", I mean any MP3, really :). I have one CD single I've given up ripping to MP3, because I always get the sound of running water overlaid.

I stuff my iPod touch with music from eMusic, anyway. I don't care what iTMS locks and unlocks, as the only important part of iTunes to me is the AppStore.

[Rimbo]

I can tell you as a wannabe indie artist that iTMS is awesome. Through e.g. CD Baby, the artist gets $0.63 for every $0.99 download. That's a great deal for non-major-lable artists.

[Cubit]

you can now up upgrade your tracks a la carte.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/01/itunes-plus-drops-all-or-nothing-upgrades-goes-a-la-carte.ars

[Lorini]

Hey does anyone know of any plans by Apple to allow you to use your Ipod as a transfer device? Right now the Ipod will not natively allow you to upload your music from the Ipod to your computer, but I was wondering since the music is going DRM free, if they might also allow uploads using the Ipod.

[Rimbo]

Hey does anyone know of any plans by Apple to allow you to use your Ipod as a transfer device? Right now the Ipod will not natively allow you to upload your music from the Ipod to your computer, but I was wondering since the music is going DRM free, if they might also allow uploads using the Ipod.

You can upload music from the iPod if you know how to use a command prompt.

[rei]

senuti for mac sharepod for windows.

[RobotPants]

Not that it's totally on-topic, but I've noticed more and more stuff on the Zune Marketplace being sold as non-DRM mp3s lately. Hopefully it's a trend that continues.

[jpinard]

So is everything also updated to 256k?

And to answer the sund question. I notice a HUGE difference between 128k and 256k bitrates. I record all my stuff from CD to computer at 320k.

[Creole Ned]

Yes, all of the DRM-free music on iTunes is 256, not 128.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Hey does anyone know of any plans by Apple to allow you to use your Ipod as a transfer device? Right now the Ipod will not natively allow you to upload your music from the Ipod to your computer, but I was wondering since the music is going DRM free, if they might also allow uploads using the Ipod.

If anything, going DRM free might have even been contingent on that kind of limitation remaining in place. Pure speculation on my part, but when pitching DRM removal to a label, Apple could argue that the iPod already discourages casual piracy through inconvenience in that respect.

[Rimbo]

So is everything also updated to 256k?

And to answer the sund question. I notice a HUGE difference between 128k and 256k bitrates. I record all my stuff from CD to computer at 320k.

Yeah. I'm upgrading everything I (foolishly) purchased at 128k