iTunes Minus DRM = iTunes Plus
So if it wasn't obvious from this morning's column or podcast (listen/subscribe/iTunes): Yes, I do have the iTunes Plus enabled on my own iTunes Store account. And if I could upgrade every one of my purchases to Plus, I would.
I like the iPod and iTunes, but I also like not having to worry about being shut out of some other gadget or program later on. ITunes Plus downloads terminate that anxiety.
Here's some extra details about this topic and how I put together the column:
* I was pleasantly surprised to see just how many different kinds of hardware and software support the AAC format (which, contrary to what some people think, Apple neither invented nor controls--AAC is as open as MP3 and cheaper to use in many cases). In addition to the portable players I tested, the media software on some newer BlackBerry smartphones also supports AAC, as do most wireless media receivers and even many car-stereo CD players that can read AAC files off data CDs.
* For anybody who would like to repeat my testing of iTunes Plus sound quality compared to ordinary iTunes downloads, I bought regular and Plus copies of Coldplay's "Clocks," OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" and a London Symphony Orchestra performance of Gustav Holst's "The Planets." You may not be surprised to hear the biggest differences in sound quality emerged with the last work, a far more complex piece of music.
* In any discussion of sound quality, however, it's important to distinguish between differences that you can remember easily and those that only surface when you play the same song in different formats--not exactly how most people listen to music. I also wonder if there isn't something of a placebo effect; if you tell somebody that a song features twice the bit rate as before, will they think it sounds better even if there's no perceptible difference?
* To extract the audio from a purchased video, I imported the video file into iMovie HD, then immediately exported it, using the "Expert Settings" command to convert its sound track to an uncompressed .wav file (which can be easily compressed into MP3 or AAC format with iTunes). There must be a simpler way to do so--any suggestions?--but if not I'll bet there will be one soon enough.
* I asked Apple how many iTunes Plus purchases have been made so far, but the company isn't ready to release numbers yet. But I'll be shocked if a lot of iTunes customers don't trade up their existing libraries.
Will you be among them? Let me know in the comments. Or, if you're free from 2 to 3 today, in my Web chat.
By Rob Pegoraro |
June 14, 2007; 9:49 AM ET
| Category:
Music
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Posted by: Winston Smith | June 14, 2007 10:55 AM
You should be also able to use a program like MacTheRipper or one of the other iPod Video utilities to extract the sound file from a video track. I've use MtR to rip tracks from Live DVD's and then convert the resulting sound file into a recognizable iTunes track.
Posted by: CP Staley | June 14, 2007 11:08 AM
I have upgraded all 145 eligible songs in my library. I like the fact that we get DRM-free files and at a higher bit rate. You raise good questions about whether the quality improvement is perceivable; I can notice the improvement in some of the songs (the music seems to have greater depth and is more vibrant) but other songs I don't notice it.
Posted by: C Richards | June 14, 2007 12:23 PM
In new iTunes purchases recently (Wings' Venus & Mars!) I opted for iTunes plus, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cost of a complete album is the same in iTunes plus as the regular old iTunes! $9.99! Woo Woo!
Posted by: Matthew | June 15, 2007 8:35 AM
Michael Robertson (founder of mp3.com and outspoken DRM critic) has stated many times that Apple has had the rights to sell non-DRM songs from many independent labels well before the famous Steve Jobs letter and ensuing EMI deal.
Is this true? If so, why aren't these tracks available non-DRM now from iTunes like they are from emusic.com and mp3tunes.com?
Posted by: David | June 15, 2007 9:05 AM
One undesirable feature of "upgrading" iTunes songs is that when you ask it to upgrade, you cannot de-select individual songs to be upgraded. So, even if you had ripped songs from your own CD into iTunes, iTunes will insist on "upgrading" and providing you with a DRM-free version of the same song (it might be from a different album) if it exists in the iTunes Music Store.
Posted by: Dennis | June 15, 2007 10:34 AM
I upgraded my home library the day iTunes Plus came out, and after a day or so of download glitches (their severs were probably getting hammered) everything was replaced smoothly with their unprotected, richer versions. Unfortunately, my main library is at work, so copying my new iTunes Plus tracks into my work library has left me with duplicates of all of the eligible songs - one DRMed 128 kbps song, one DRM-free 256 kbps song. Since iTunes doesn't have a command for slipstreaming in existing iTunes Plus tracks into a library with old songs that need to be replaced, I'm going to have to manually update all of the playlist and rating data on the new songs before I can delete the old ones. Should be fun . . .
Posted by: PK | June 15, 2007 11:11 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
So they subtracted DRM and they call it iTunes Plus? "Ignorance is Strength" indeed.