iTunes + iPod AppsMP3 is the standard for digital audio. An MP3 music track can be played on almost ANY player, whether it's portable or computer-based. You can burn MP3s to a CD and they'll play just fine on almost any modern CD player. But Apple's iTunes software doesn't create MP3 files when you buy a song. The files are "protected" and cannot be played on a computer which does not have the iTunes software. You CAN copy them to your portable music player, as long as you bought that player from Apple and it says iPod on it. Understandably, this makes Linux users, and the millions of owners of non-iPod music players a little upset.
The ability to make copies of copyrighted materials is seen by the recording industry as a threat to its profitability, and perhaps rightly so. DRM (Digital Rights Management) was created by digital media publishers so they could control the duplication and dissemination of their content. But DRM is actually a misnomer. Because rather than granting rights, DRM actually restricts the consumer from doing perfectly valid and reasonable things with music they own.
It turns out you can only convert non-protected formats (such as WAV or WMA) to MP3. So what can we do? Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this annoying restriction.
Method 1: Burn the track(s) to a CD, then you can open the CD in iTunes and the Convert Selection to MP3 will do exactly what you want.
Just be aware that you'll have TWO copies of that song in iTunes -- one in the original AAC format and one in MP3 format. You can delete the AAC version if you like. (Note that you must burn an audio CD, not a data CD. Check the setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Burning if you have a problem importing tracks from the CD.)
Method 2: Use a DRM audio converter.
If you have lots of music, you might need a big pile of CDs to convert everything with the "burn and rip" method above. That's where software can help. A "virtual CD drive" such as NoteBurner can simulate a real CD burner, eliminating the need for real CD-R discs. The Windows operating system will treat the virtual drive just like a real one, so you can tell your CD burning software to access the virtual drive by it's own drive letter.
NoteBurner DRM Music Converter utilizes virtual CD burning technology to simulate the burning and ripping process. NoteBurner Audio Converter introduces a smart way of converting a wide range of audio file formats to MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, FLAC and WAV. Utilizing virtual burning technology, NoteBurner is able to convert M4P to MP3, convert DRM protected WMA to MP3, and convert WMA to WAV.
Plarform: Windows XP, Vista Price: USD 34.95
Since NoteBurner uses virtual burning technology, media player like iTunes, Windows Media Player or Real Player, or audio editing program like Adobe Audition, is required to co-work with the program to complete the converting. NoteBurner DRM Music Converter is able to convert all types of audio files that can be played by media players.
