How do I unlock a downloaded podcast?

January 14, 2008 3:01 PM

How do I unlock a downloaded podcast?

I was interviewed on my local NPR station and I'd like to send my spot to my ma without the preceding story. I uploaded it with Orbit and opened it in Audacity but it's not letting me allowed to edit it. Any idea how to unlock it?

posted by kristymcj to Technology (4 answers total)

What format is the audio file in?
What operating system are you using?
Which error message do you see?

Do you happen to have the audio player open at the same time as you're trying to open it in Audacity?
posted by sharkfu at 3:12 PM on January 14, 2008

What I usually do to unlock audio files that I download on iTunes is burn them onto a CD and then import back into my computer as mp3, and they're now protection-free! As long as you don't mind using up a blank CD, it'll work. I usually do several files/songs at a time to make it worth it.

There may be an easier way to do it, but I'm not all that tech-savvy, so that works for me.
posted by ledenes at 3:26 PM on January 14, 2008

You "uploaded" with Orbit? Maybe you meant "downloaded"? I don't think it's locked in any DRM-type way, anyway.

I believe Audacity won't let you edit or save MP3s unless you've downloaded and installed LAME. Perhaps that's the problem?
posted by AmbroseChapel at 6:46 PM on January 14, 2008

If you using windows XP, right click the file, click `properties', and make sure `read only' is not checked.
posted by tomble at 6:46 PM on January 14, 2008