Can iTunes and Napster DRM get along for an audio CD?

April 9, 2005 6:19 PM

I had a list of 10 songs I wanted...I got 9 from iTunes and one from Napster. For burning purposes, the DRM doesn't seem to get along. Short of ripping off the DRM, is there any way to burn them onto the same audio cd?
posted by furiousxgeorge to computers & internet (7 comments total)

This isn't the most efficient answer, but:

Burn iTunes songs on one CD.
Burn Napster songs on another.
Rip all tracks back to computer (do not compress).
Burn again.
posted by bh at 6:55 PM on April 9, 2005

that's basically ripping off the DRM, bh. And that's probably the only answer.
posted by puke & cry at 8:13 PM on April 9, 2005

...which isn't the best way to rip off the DRM, of course. Indeed, though, it probably is the only answer. This is what DRM is for - to manage non-existent rights, like the right of an artist/label to tell you what songs you should or should not be allowed to arrange on a CD. There are several tools for processing iTunes-purchased music and removing the DRM. Which operating system are you using?
posted by odinsdream at 8:41 PM on April 9, 2005

Alternately, can't you burn to a cd *image*, hence avoiding wasting a cd? Then you can use a program like daemon tools to load the image/then rip back to comp - much faster too.
posted by Mossy at 9:00 PM on April 9, 2005

Also there's no need to waste two CDs - you only need to burn a CD of the Napster song and import it into iTunes and burn the final disc there (it would work the other way around, but you'd be burning and ripping nine songs).
posted by cillit bang at 9:30 PM on April 9, 2005

Mossy, all the music stores I've seen require you to use their custom software to burn the CD, and don't give you the CD image option. You can probably use a CD-RW though.
posted by smackfu at 10:44 AM on April 10, 2005

Thanks for the help, went with the method in the first response but used a CD-RW instead, which is why I marked the best responses the way I did. You all had good info though, thanks again.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:48 PM on April 11, 2005