iTunes goes DRM Free and steps up to 256kbps AAC

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

05/31/2007 10:55:57 AM · #1

For those of you who do use iTunes to get your music and those of you who also care.

Apple/iTunes is upgrading their library slowly to 256KBPS MP4 AAC and DRM free with iTunes 7.2. The media is the same as unprotected AAC and will play on older versions.

Song Cost - Song price is up to 1.29 while higher then other services its still less then an 11 second ringtone and the quality and DRM free beats out some of the legit services.

Album Cost - Will vary but i just bought Red Jumpsuit Aparatus for 7.99 and got all the songs in the new format.

Please dont turn this into a this other service is better thread or a thread about removing DRM from older files.

Message edited by author 2007-05-31 10:57:19.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

05/31/2007 11:10:05 AM · #2

It's good to see them go DRM-free. The really overbearing DRM (along with the marginal quality) is one reason that I've steered clear of iTunes.
It still seems steep to pay $8 for an album encoded at 256k, though with the new codec that's probably very close to CD quality anyway.
If I like the artist, I'm still more likely to buy the CD, then I have the choice of how to encode for my portable devices.

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

05/31/2007 11:11:53 AM · #3

Note: they embed your account information in the MP3/AAC code, so if you go plastering it over bit-torrent, yur busted.

However, you can copy it to as many computers plus a few of your friends without running into a hard copy limit.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

05/31/2007 11:13:55 AM · #4

Originally posted by wavelength:

I'm perfectly fine with the embedded info, as a matter of fact I *applaud* that as a solution that does not tread heavily on rights of fair use, but does protect content.

downtherabbithole

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

05/31/2007 11:14:41 AM · #5

so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

PhotoDave

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

05/31/2007 11:26:25 AM · #6

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

If I actually used iTunes I would be tempted to pay a little extra for loosing the DRM. *applauds Apple*

-dave

Elvis_L

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/31/2007 11:27:31 AM · #7

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

thats economics. they hae to pay more to get record companys to agree to DRM free. not to mention they hardly made any proffit(on songs) before. its like gas. there is no money for the station in the gas. they need you to buy stuff inside to make money. apple needs you to buy Ipods.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

05/31/2007 11:38:02 AM · #8

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

Not sure about how many accoutns you can authorize for your protected content such as movies and tv shows.

BTW Music videos are also being stepped up to 256kbps also but video quality will remain the same

As far as sound quality im not sure on the AAC codec. On MP3's @ 256kbps the 17,000hz to 22,000hz range was non existant. Complex songs and songs that go into high ranges like piano and acoustic performance suffer in quality. Rap/Hip-hop music in general sounds no different lol.

But as far as quality they made the right move. IMO it should be this way.

0.99 per song for 256kbps AAC
1.29 per song for Apple Lossless

downtherabbithole

Canon EOS-30D

05/31/2007 11:46:50 AM · #9

I guess that isn't much of a price raise...
I'm still a little put off by it though, some news ahead of time would have been nice I guess

I'm an i-tunes junky, I think I spend more time there then any other place on the web.

thats just my generation. I would much rather have the i tunes download than a cd too, cds get scratched and lost where I can pay less, download it, put in on my ipod, burn a cd, and back the file up on an external.
and it's cheeper which means my music money last a ton longer.

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/31/2007 11:54:44 AM · #10

What does AAC and DRM mean?

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

05/31/2007 11:57:09 AM · #11

Originally posted by dknourek:

It wasn't Apple, it was EMI. They're moving from lockdown to lojack is all. (no, I don't have a problem with that)

EMI is also getting the other music services the same, Apple is just taking all the credit because they're the new Microsoft.

scarbrd

Leica M10

05/31/2007 11:57:19 AM · #12

I bought the Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon album for $7.99 US on iTunes last night

The whole album, DRM-free and 256KBPS

I don't know why this album is cheaper than the rest, but WOOHOO!

Elvis_L

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/31/2007 12:00:12 PM · #13

Originally posted by scarbrd:

I bought the Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon album for $7.99 US on iTunes last night

The whole album, DRM-free and 256KBPS

I don't know why this album is cheaper than the rest, but WOOHOO!

WOW if i didn't have 4 copies of it already (including one in gold for some reason) i would jump on it. you can't get better value than that.

05/31/2007 12:01:01 PM · #14

Originally posted by Elvis_L:

Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

thats economics. they hae to pay more to get record companys to agree to DRM free. not to mention they hardly made any proffit(on songs) before. its like gas. there is no money for the station in the gas. they need you to buy stuff inside to make money. apple needs you to buy Ipods.

Actually, EMI got tired of paying lawyers and researching fees to the RIAA, so they're decreasing their costs while gouging you.

"OMG, finally DRM free music, I'll PAY FOR THAT!!" Umm, wait, all I had to do before was burn a CD and then rip it and it was DRM free before.... what?

05/31/2007 12:04:07 PM · #15

Or thanks to france theirs an even better method but id rather it not get into discussion because some idiot will be like i um er use this p2p to get er umm aac files.

And blows the whole load and it gets locked lol.

Elvis_L

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/31/2007 12:05:34 PM · #16

Originally posted by wavelength:

Originally posted by Elvis_L:

Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

thats economics. they hae to pay more to get record companys to agree to DRM free. not to mention they hardly made any proffit(on songs) before. its like gas. there is no money for the station in the gas. they need you to buy stuff inside to make money. apple needs you to buy Ipods.

Actually, EMI got tired of paying lawyers and researching fees to the RIAA, so they're decreasing their costs while gouging you.

"OMG, finally DRM free music, I'll PAY FOR THAT!!" Umm, wait, all I had to do before was burn a CD and then rip it and it was DRM free before.... what?

well i wouldn't say gougeing. i mean if i sell a print for $50 that is a huge mark up ovre the $2 i payed for it, but I am charging for my time and effort.

I do however wish the artists made more.

05/31/2007 12:15:12 PM · #17

Originally posted by Elvis_L:

Originally posted by wavelength:

Originally posted by Elvis_L:

Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so no more limits on how many computers I can copy my music to eh?
that sounds too good to be true...and I'm not a big fan of the whole raising the price thing.

thats economics. they hae to pay more to get record companys to agree to DRM free. not to mention they hardly made any proffit(on songs) before. its like gas. there is no money for the station in the gas. they need you to buy stuff inside to make money. apple needs you to buy Ipods.

Actually, EMI got tired of paying lawyers and researching fees to the RIAA, so they're decreasing their costs while gouging you.

"OMG, finally DRM free music, I'll PAY FOR THAT!!" Umm, wait, all I had to do before was burn a CD and then rip it and it was DRM free before.... what?

well i wouldn't say gougeing. i mean if i sell a print for $50 that is a huge mark up ovre the $2 i payed for it, but I am charging for my time and effort.

I do however wish the artists made more.

Yeah, I just find it funny that Apple (spurred by EMI) gets to lower it workload because it no longer has to track all the music it sells and it's DRM servers will eventally be decommissioned, yet they're charging you more for the priveledge of them not adding the bloat to your music that you just bought (excepting your account info).

Sorry, I'm just fanboi'd out lately I think. You're probably not all fanboi's, so I'll shut up now.

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

05/31/2007 12:27:34 PM · #18

Lol i got iHooked byt he 400 dollars worth of itunes codes i got off pepsi and MT dew bottles.

They have free signles of the week, which is kinda like listening to local bands which i hate doing. But once in a blue moon they hand out major artist songs for freee and their pretty good. Add free music videos now and then free tv episodes all the time.

Im the ultimate iTunes freeloader.

scarbrd

Leica M10

05/31/2007 12:28:42 PM · #19

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:

That's a lot of Pepsi and Mountain Dew

Message edited by author 2007-05-31 12:29:39.

Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical HF for Canon

05/31/2007 12:51:28 PM · #20

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Originally posted by RainMotorsports:
Lol i got iHooked byt he 400 dollars worth of itunes codes i got off pepsi and MT dew bottles.

They have free signles of the week, which is kinda like listening to local bands which i hate doing. But once in a blue moon they hand out major artist songs for freee and their pretty good. Add free music videos now and then free tv episodes all the time.

Im the ultimate iTunes freeloader.

That's a lot of Pepsi and Mountain Dew

Thats alot of sodium benzoate which is now linked to DNA mutations and possibly parkinsons disease.

ssodell

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/31/2007 01:04:23 PM · #21

Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:

What does AAC and DRM mean?

I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here you go.

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio.

Digital rights management - Technologies to give content providers control over redistribution and access to material. Critics of these technologies use an alternate expansion, 'digital restrictions management'.

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

05/31/2007 01:25:16 PM · #22

Originally posted by ssodell:

Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:
What does AAC and DRM mean?

I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here you go.

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio.

Digital rights management - Technologies to give content providers control over redistribution and access to material. Critics of these technologies use an alternate expansion, 'digital restrictions management'.

Thanks,

I hate it when acronyms are used, and there is assumption on what they mean.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/31/2007 01:30:45 PM · #23

Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:

Thanks,

I hate it when acronyms are used, and there is assumption on what they mean.

Well DRM is a big issue, Music, Games Video. Sony been sued over a root kit they had on their Music CD's it was all over the news, the radio even my grand fatehr heard that one. Its been discussed here alot and i never really read a headline with it spelld out although im sure u can find plenty. Im into alla spects of computers so i talk about drm all the time it affects alot more then just music.

But your right to alot of acryonyms are used and not explained acting like everyone understands.

But if you know what an MP3 is then AAC is second nature. Do you know what MP3 is actually short for? Mpeg 1 Layer 3 Most people just know its a music file and have neevr had it explained to them, Spelling it probably makes even less sense.

AAC = Better quality and file size for music.

DRM = The Nazi's "SS". And Actually DRM on Games is more of a Communist thing lol.

Message edited by author 2007-05-31 13:32:43.

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

05/31/2007 01:43:31 PM · #24

The other big iTunes news yesterday was the rolling out of the entire Paul McCartney catalog (well, not ALL of them). McCartney had some awesome albums after the break up and I'll definitely be purchasing a few albums to round out my collection.

The bigger potential news is that the Beatles may not be far behind, though everyone has given up trying to guess when that will happen.

As far as audio quality goes, I'm no high end audiophile, but I've made several very "real world" tests myself and have never been able to detect the quality difference between Apple AAC (128), MP3 (192) or AIFF (directly from CDs) when all three are burned back to an audio CD.