5 posts tagged “itunes 8”
Basically, when you buy music from iTunes, it comes with a copyright protection called DRM. These DRM-protected songs are locked so that they only work with Apple MP3 players. That means that if you bought a Microsoft Zune, you cannot use iTunes music.
So, what is the solution? You have to burn a CD. When you do this, the DRM is removed (because the music is converted to a non-DRM-compatible media). After you burn the CD, you can rip it to your PC as an MP3 file which no longer has DRM.
Alternatively, you can use TuneClone (http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php).
TuneClone makes a virtual CD-ROM drive, tricking your PC into believing that you are burning a CD. Therefore, the DRM is removed without wasting a CD.
Here is a link to a tutorial using TuneClone and iTunes 8: http://itunesm4ptomp3.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/convert-itunes8-music-to-mp3/
"My laptop HDD recently failed, so I replaced it with an iMac. Fortunately, my iTunes library was on an external HDD, so I have copied it across to the iMac. However, the songs that I have purchased from iTunes do not seem to be available. They have copied across, but are 'greyed out'. I have authorised my new computer to play purchases. Is there anything else I am forgetting?"
It is relatively painless to switch over from Windows to Mac as Mac has support for a lot of commonly used files like Microsoft Word documents, Powerpoint slideshows and Adobe PDF files. So, compatibility is hardly an issue. What you do have to take note of however while switching over to Mac are your iTunes library and WMAs. Note: This tutorial was written under the assumption that you are running the latest version of iTunes ( iTunes 8 ) on both your Windows and Mac.
1. Add WMAs to iTunes on Windows
iTunes for Windows is built with Windows Media Audio (WMA) support - it is able to play and convert WMAs. However, because WMA is a proprietary codec, it isn't available in iTunes for Mac. If you're not careful, you'll be left with a lot of WMAs which will be unplayable on your Mac.
The easiest way to dodge this problem is to convert all the WMAs you have while you're still on your Windows machine. In your iTunes General preferences, under 'Import settings', make sure to have AAC or MP3 selected. Configure the bit rate if you like but because you will be converting from one lossy codec to another, there's bound to be a profound loss in quality.
However, if the WMAs are DRM protected, it will be a little bit difficult. One method of dealing with the DRM protected WMAs is to get an audio converter. Make a simple Google search and you will get a lot of converters that can convert WMA to MP3. However, those that can convert DRM protected WMA to MP3 are rather limited. The one that attracts my attention is TuneClone Audio Converter (fow Windows only), which isn't free but very well worth a shot if you have lots of DRM protected WMAs ready to be switched to Mac. TuneClone Audio Converter is capable of removing DRM protection from WMA files and convert WMA to iTunes (both Windows and Mac) compatible MP3 format by installing a virtual CD burner. Here is the guide: http://www.tuneclone.com/how-to-convert-wma-to-mp3-for-ipod.php
Apart from that, TuneClone Audio Converter can also be used to convert iTunes M4P (protected AAC) to MP3 for non-Apple MP3 devices. Here is the guide: http://www.tuneclone.com/itunes8-m4p-to-mp3.php
After getting the protected WMAs converted to MP3, add to your iTunes library the MP3 files, which will be transferred to Mac along with all the music in iTunes library.
2. Backup iTunes library on Windows
In Windows, open iTunes. Consolidate your library from the 'File -> Library' menu.
This will move all the music files into the iTunes Music folder and sort them by artist and album.
Navigate to your My Music folder. It's typically found at C:\Documents and Settings\~username~\My Documents\My Music.
Copy the iTunes folder to the Desktop of your new Mac. Depending on the size of your library and the method of transfer, this could take a while.
3. Organize iTunes on Mac
If you are running iTunes on your Mac for the first time, you'll be prompted with the initial welcome setup procedure. When it asks to search your drive for music files, make sure to decline. At the end, you'll be presented with a fresh, empty iTunes library. Now, quit iTunes. By default, it would have already set up its own iTunes Music folder located in ~/Music. Go over to this location and delete the iTunes folder then copy and paste your iTunes Music folder from the desktop into it (the one which you have just brought over from your Windows computer). After all this is done, launch iTunes and you'll be rewarded with your old, personalized iTunes library.
"Can I play iTunes (that I have stored on my computer) on my PS3? I know I can't just hook up my iPod to it or stream from my PC. I read something about transferring music to USB and then put that flash drive in the PS3, will this work? I want to play my iTunes on my home theater but I have no other way than to play it through my PS3. I have a yamaha 5990 receiver and it is not iPod compatible. Any options here? Thanks in advance."
As the music in iTunes is encrypted with DRM, you cannot directly transfer it to your PS3. The easiest way is to burn the music to an audio CD and then rip it back to Windows Media Player or a similar program as an MP3.
Or you can get some software to help you. TuneClone is a pretty good program to get the iTunes protected AAC (M4P) music burned to MP3.
And this page demonstrates how to remove DRM from iTunes music and convert iTunes DRM protected AAC (M4P) music to MP3 for Sony PlayStation 3(PS3) using these two methods:
1. Burn an audio CD and rip it back to MP3
2. TuneClone
And below is the tutorial page:
http://www.tuneclone.com/how-to-import-itunes-music-to-playstation3.php
So now you can listen to iTunes music while playing games with your PS3.
It is very easy to create free ringtones for your iPhone 3G using only iTunes and songs you already have on your computer. This tutorial shows how to perform step by step. It only works with songs that are DRM free. To create ringtones using DRM protected songs, you need first strip the DRM off and then follow the guide. This method has been tested and works with iTunes 7.7.1 and iPhone 2.0.1 firmware. Actually, my friend told me he had tested it with iTunes 8 and it worked smoothly as well, though there were several differences in making settings due to the update of iTunes.
And here is the tutorial: http://www.tuneclone.com/how-to-free-custom-ringtones-for-iphone-3g.php
The music files you purchased from iTunes store are under DRM protection. You cannot play them on your own mobile devices other than iPod and iPhone. You cannot convert the DRM protected music files to MP3 or WMA directly with iTunes media player, either. However you can burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. And iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD. If you have only a few music files, you can use the method below: 1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You’d better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once. TuneClone is the software you are looking for if you have a big collection of iTunes music files to be converted. It automatically generates a virtual CD burner and simulates the burning and ripping process. All you need to do is install TuneClone and then burn your playlist to TuneClone virtual CD burner. And TuneClone will directly convert the music files to MP3 for you. It is very fast and all the artist, album and title information will be preserved perfectly.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.
4. Copy the MP3 files to media players such as cell phone, Zune, BlackBerry, PSP, Creative Zen, etc. and enjoy them. These four steps seem very simple, however, it is a time consuming process if you have a library of music files ready to be converted. Moreover, the information of the music files like title, artist and album will be lost after burning and ripping back to MP3 files.
1. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com and install it.
TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. A virtual CD Burner will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.
2. Make settings at TuneClone

Click the Settings button at TuneClone. In the pop-up window, you can specify the output folder, output filenames, output format, etc. for the output files.
Note: Apart from MP3, TuneClone also allows you to convert iTunes M4P to WAV and unprotected WMA.
Tip: You can get the output protection removed music folder by clicking the Folder button after the whole process.
3. Make settings at iTunes
Create a playlist, and then add the files you want to convert into the playlist.

After you have created the playlist ready to be burnt, click the Burn Disc in the bottom right of iTunes.
In the pop up window of Burn Settings, make the settings as highlighted below:

4. Start to burn
Click the Burn button to start burning.
After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3, WMA or WAV. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.