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Topic: Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today (Read 7956 times) previous topic - next topic
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Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Apple has today launched their iTunes Plus DRM free music/music video feature on the the iTunes Store. Also an iTunes version 7.20 software upgrade is available and required to get DRM free music new purchases and upgrades from already purchased music, for a small fee.

More info here:
http://news.com.com/iTunes+goes+DRM-free+w...ml?tag=nefd.top

So now some EMI content is finally available for purchase DRM free...

Update Note:  It has been discovered that iTunes is still embedding your Name and E-mail address, inside tags, within the DRM free music files you buy from iTunes Plus. Whether you can zap that out with a tag editor has yet to be determined. This is likely mandated by the record companies (in this case EMI) to help prevent the files from being put up on torrents for download. If you do allow others to copy files you bought, it will point back to you.
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/30/tuaw-tip-do...rent-that-song/

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #1 –
And as an intro, the current free Single of the Week is a EMI "iTunes Plus" capable track.  So, you can get free proof it's real. 

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #2 –
Yep, I upgraded an album I purchased to its 256kbps DRM-free counterpart.  It was a 12 track album and Apple charged me $3.00 to upgrade to the newer tracks.  All in all, I would say that the experience was pretty good as iTunes placed the 128kbps AAC DRM tracks in a folder on my desktop.  It took quite a bit of time to download the tracks (I guess everyone is doing it) but the overall process was painless.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #3 –
good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #4 –
Quote from: randal1013 on
good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.


Lossless isn't going to happen for awhile - too many trade offs with bandwidth and storage costs, especially for the broad market (which is where iTunes plays). The trick to success is making something "good enough" while keeping other positive factors high.

Still, 256kbps AAC is pretty damn transparent. I know from my own tests that I will not be able to distinguish those tracks from CD copies, and so that's "good enough" for me.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #5 –
Quote from: randal1013 on
good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.


Have you checked out www.magnatune.com ?
they are an independant label who's philosophy includes the following:

you decide how much an album is worth, from 5-18 USD
you can share any song / album with 3 people
you can re download any album / song that was lost form your possession
formats include flac mp3 and wav
[edit]
Oh, and 50% of the sale price goes straight to the artist.
[/edit]

mostly independant artists, nothing you've heard on the radio, but still great content.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #6 –
Quote from: eldowan on
Quote from: randal1013 on

good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.


Have you checked out www.magnatune.com ?
they are an independant label who's philosophy includes the following:

you decide how much an album is worth, from 5-18 USD
you can share any song / album with 3 people
you can re download any album / song that was lost form your possession
formats include flac mp3 and wav
[edit]
Oh, and 50% of the sale price goes straight to the artist.
[/edit]

mostly independant artists, nothing you've heard on the radio, but still great content.



I think the key work there is independent.  There are many websites/services that offer DRM free lossless/lossy files from independent artists.  The problem is that most people want "big name" artists that they hear on the radio.

I think this is the right direction for the iTunes Store.  I have a new car CD deck that supports USB storage devices (including the iPod) and can play mp3, WMA, and AAC file formats.  These newer iTunes songs playback perfectly in my car CD deck via my installed USB2.0 portable hard drive.  The DRM free route should be done by more companies and record labels.  EMI is still kinda small, they have some really big name artists (The Beatles, Iron Maiden, some Queen, Pink Floyd, and recent Korn) but that isn't that big of a selection.  Hopefully other record labels like Warner Bros, Sony, and the various other smaller labels will see that this is the right move and allow their music to be released in a DRM-free format on iTunes.  I too would prefer lossless but the 256kbps AAC files are transparent to me and I am sure >90% of the people on this board would also agree.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #7 –
Has anybody checked out the older format vs. new format? I went an updated the "Ch-Check It Out" single from Beastie Boys and I have to say there is a difference, but I'm not sure if it's just volume.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #8 –
Quote from: JetPropelledKid on
Has anybody checked out the older format vs. new format? I went an updated the "Ch-Check It Out" single from Beastie Boys and I have to say there is a difference, but I'm not sure if it's just volume.


I listened to some older purchased tracks and newer ones.  With my ear, they had the same sound quality.  Then again, I can't distinguish 128kbps VBR iTunes AAC form the source CD so these 256kbps AAC records are way more than I needed (which is why I really wanted 128kbps DRM-free tracks instead of 256kbps).

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #9 –
Quote from: goodnews on
Update Note:  It has been discovered that iTunes is still embedding your Name and E-mail address, inside tags, within the DRM free music files you buy from iTunes Plus. Whether you can zap that out with a tag editor has yet to be determined.


I believe the name/addy are in the header (as 'atoms'), not in the tag, per-se. The m4a is just the container for the AAC, correct? So does this http://mp4ui.sourceforge.net/ strip out just the AAC audio?

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #10 –
Quote from: randal1013 on
good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.

Exactly! Lossy audio files (DRM or not) won't replace a physical CD for me.
So until they start selling Apple Lossless files I will stay clear...

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Philoneous on
Quote from: goodnews on

Update Note:  It has been discovered that iTunes is still embedding your Name and E-mail address, inside tags, within the DRM free music files you buy from iTunes Plus. Whether you can zap that out with a tag editor has yet to be determined.


I believe the name/addy are in the header (as 'atoms'), not in the tag, per-se. The m4a is just the container for the AAC, correct? So does this http://mp4ui.sourceforge.net/ strip out just the AAC audio?
Metadata "tags", as they are popularly called, are all considered "Atoms" in the MPEG-4 container iTunes uses.  ©alb is Album name, ©art is Artist, aART is Album Artist, etc.

Anyway, do note that iTunes has always stored the purchaser's information in each file header.  The only difference now is that some tracks won't have DRM.

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #12 –
Quote from: krmathis on
Quote from: randal1013 on

good for itunes. now all they need to do to get my money is offer those DRM free tracks in a lossless format.

Exactly! Lossy audio files (DRM or not) won't replace a physical CD for me.
So until they start selling Apple Lossless files I will stay clear...


I don't remember the last time I listened to a lossless copy of a song.

Every CD I buy, I immediately rip to a lossy format and then store the CD away.

iTunes Plus will let me avoid that step (while not having to worry about gas/shipping costs).
iTunes 10 - Mac OS X 10.6
256kbps AAC VBR
iPhone 4 32GB

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #13 –
I'm definitely pleased that Apple has taken this step, but I also never intend to actually purchase a song download that doesn't at least equal the quality of the CD.  I honestly don't know if my ears will hear a difference between 256 Kbps AAC and the CD WAV, but I'm stubborn and simply don't care.  Digital distribution of music is cool and convenient, but it shouldn't take a backwards step in quality, even if most people can't hear it.

The other factor that still frosts me is the price.  In my opinion, digitally distributed music should cost less than the corresponding CD.  After all, the CD is physical media that comes with a case and usually nice artwork.  Sometimes you get a booklet of information or lyrics, sometimes simply more artist pictures.  But in my opinion, you definitely get more with the actual CD purchase.  Except for digital convenience, I'd much rather own the CD and rip the songs for digital players.  Now if I could download entire CDs at lossless compression quality, free of DRM nightmares and pay 70% of retail CD prices, perhaps I'd convert.  Just my 2¢ 

Apple launches iTunes Plus DRM free music store today

Reply #14 –
Quote from: X-ray Doc on
I'm definitely pleased that Apple has taken this step, but I also never intend to actually purchase a song download that doesn't at least equal the quality of the CD.  I honestly don't know if my ears will hear a difference between 256 Kbps AAC and the CD WAV, but I'm stubborn and simply don't care.  Digital distribution of music is cool and convenient, but it shouldn't take a backwards step in quality, even if most people can't hear it.

The other factor that still frosts me is the price.  In my opinion, digitally distributed music should cost less than the corresponding CD.  After all, the CD is physical media that comes with a case and usually nice artwork.  Sometimes you get a booklet of information or lyrics, sometimes simply more artist pictures.  But in my opinion, you definitely get more with the actual CD purchase.  Except for digital convenience, I'd much rather own the CD and rip the songs for digital players.  Now if I could download entire CDs at lossless compression quality, free of DRM nightmares and pay 70% of retail CD prices, perhaps I'd convert.  Just my 2¢ 



Apple is starting to include bonus content for purchasing full CDs off the iTunes Store.  They are including bonus tracks, b-sides, digital booklets (same as the CD booklet but in PDF format), and music videos.  I think Apple is starting to realize that people want all of that bonus content and they are starting to include it.  I agree with you that digitally distributed files should cost less.  I don't like paying $9.99 for a CD that is lossy only.  I will do it if I can't find the physical CD or if I am in a tight bind.  I just hope that they go the lossless route soon.  I don't think it will be this year but they might next year.  DRM or not, lossless would be extremely nice (you could always remove the DRM yourself through various methods).