Make my music free!

November 16, 2005 3:41 PM

I want to buy an iPod Nano. This makes sense given that I already have 70+ gigs of MP3s all organized with iTunes. However, I also love Rhapsody which uses DRM protected WMA files that won't play on an iPod.

Still, I'd like to be able to use a Rhapsody-to-go subscription in conjunction with iTunes and an iPod. Is there a way to make Rhapsody's DRM protected WMA files play on an iPod? I'm aware of solutions like Tunebite and output stacker.. But those involve re-recording and subjecting relatively crappy sounding music files to two layers of compression, making them even worse.

Just to clarify -- not doing anything illegal here, paying for a service, just want to get around the evil DRM. (Or am I somehow violating the DMCA?)

Several AskMeFi threads have danced around this question but not addressed it...

posted by Heminator to Technology (9 answers total)

Only other one I know of is the ol' burn-to-CD-then-back-to-MP3 but again you're dealing with layers of lossiness. If there's an effective DRM stripper for Playsforsure or Janus or whatever the hell they are I'm not cool enough to know about it.

70 gigs of MP3s AND Rhapsody? You clearly have some music needs. :)
posted by selfnoise at 4:01 PM on November 16, 2005

Best answer: With an appropriate sound card, the re-recording takes place entirely in the digital domain. i.e., the only way you're making it crappier is by converting from one codec to another. There is no digital > analog > digital conversion.

Even if you were able to strip the encryption from the WMA file (which I don't believe has been done, but feel free to prove me wrong), the iPod wouldn't be able to play it.

I've had good success with Tunebite, though it can be a little tedious to do the conversion on lots of files. Then again, I am definitely not an audiophile.

And yes, stripping encryption is violating the DMCA. Not that I give a fuck.
posted by trevyn at 4:01 PM on November 16, 2005

You'll have to re-encode to something other than WMA to get it on your iPod, anyway. See if you can convert them to WAV and then encode as Apple Lossless in iTunes. That'll be the highest-quality option, but it'll suck room up on your iPod.
posted by zsazsa at 4:11 PM on November 16, 2005

I have no idea how they work but DrmDbg and DRM2WMV seem to be solutions for removing DRM from Windows Media files. And yes, even though you're licensed to listen to the audio files, circumventing the DRM is a violation of the DMCA. Don't you just love them lobbyists!
posted by VulcanMike at 5:24 PM on November 16, 2005

Best answer: Oh, but to answer your core qustion, no... there is no way to make your WMVs play on an iPod without reencoding. As suggested above, you could encode into Apple Lossless to preserve the original WMV faithfully. Another option is to encode your WMV as a higher-than-original-bitrate MP3 or AAC. You'll still lose quality, but upping the audio quality will at least preserve more of the original sound.
posted by VulcanMike at 5:31 PM on November 16, 2005

Just a note, remember that the Nano is the second smallest of the MP3 players offered by Apple. Since you have such a huge collection, you'll need to ask yourself about how often you want to switch out files. It really depends on your listening habits, but buying a regular iPod will allow you to carry around just under half of your collection. Buy the high end iPod, and you can carry all but 10 gigs of your collection. Plus, you'll also get about six more hours of play time with a regular iPod, over a Nano.
posted by Atreides at 9:34 PM on November 16, 2005

Doesn't Rhapsody also sell AAC format files?

It sucks that it doesn't enable you to download the track in multiple formats - after all you've licenced it!
posted by meehawl at 5:40 AM on November 17, 2005

Oh I see, a "to go" sub. No,. Apple hasn't yet deployed subscription software to enable this kind of service for iPods.
posted by meehawl at 5:41 AM on November 17, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for the help, everybody.
posted by Heminator at 7:12 PM on November 17, 2005