iTunes Music Store on Android

February 17, 2013 10:14 AM

Last year I bought a new Android device that replaces a long string of iPods. I just now noticed that a couple things in my music library are not playable on it because they were purchased from the iTunes Music Store! What to do?

I've tried redownloading from the music store to see if Apple is now offering DRM-free versions, but they are all still protected. If there any other way to decrypt them besides burning them to a CD and re-ripping? (That's an option; that would take about 14 CDs)

Host is OS X 10.7 with access to Windows or Linux VMs if that's what's necessary.

posted by mkb to computers & internet (10 answers total)

There are programs that will fake burn (to a virtual CD burner) and re-rip your iTunes DRM-protected music - here's an example.

Oh, whoops, that's four years old and not free anymore. But the idea is the same!
posted by mskyle at 10:18 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

I've tried redownloading from the music store to see if Apple is now offering DRM-free versions, but they are all still protected.

It may be worth your while shelling out for iTunes Match so that you can (easily) delete the old versions and pull down the non-DRM 256kbps AAC files in their place.
posted by holgate at 10:21 AM on February 17

Apple used to let you pay to upgrade your tracks to iTunes Plus format (basically the 256kbps non-DRM versions they sell exclusively these days), but from looking at holgate's link, it looks like you have to do it through iTunes Match now. But if you're talking about 14 CDs worth, it may be cheaper than it would have been with the old way anyway.
posted by zsazsa at 10:39 AM on February 17

Have you considered, um, less than legal means?
posted by theichibun at 12:40 PM on February 17

Apple's DRM was called "FairPlay" so googling for "FairPlay cracking" might prove useful. However the scheme was cracked back around '04 and Apple has dropped DRM so I found most of the links to be dead.

Burning to CD and reripping will probably be the cheapest way to go.
posted by chairface at 2:12 PM on February 17 [1 favorite]

If you can arrange access to iTunes 10.x (current is 11), and live in a jurisdiction where breaking DRM is legal, you can use a program called "Requiem" to remove Apple's DRM.
posted by vasi at 5:38 PM on February 17

In iTunes, pick track, right-click, select "Create AAC Version" and you'll end up with a copy without DRM. If you don't want AAC, under Import Settings you can selecte a different default audio file type (such as MP3), after which right-clicking will let you create an MP3 version.

I use this to remove DRM from purchased music in my own library. No third-party software needed.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:11 AM on February 18

Check the song info after conversion, original will be "Purchased AAC File" and will be tied to your AppleID; new copy will be a plain AAC File and will NOT be tied to your ID.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:13 AM on February 18

caution live frogs: "Check the song info after conversion, original will be "Purchased AAC File" and will be tied to your AppleID; new copy will be a plain AAC File and will NOT be tied to your ID."

This only works on non-protected purchased songs. DRM-protected songs will have the type "Protected AAC audio file", and choosing "Create AAC Version" on them will display an error.
posted by vasi at 2:48 PM on February 18

Really? I've never seen this happen myself. Possibly I never actually tried this on a protected AAC; I thought I had, but it may have all been purchased content rather than protected.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:53 AM on March 6