Another IPod question

[bonj2]

...or carry on buying from wherever you are buying your tunes from now. As it's been pointed out above owning an iPod doesn't tie you into only ever buying from iTunes. You can still buy them from wherever else you like.

that's irrelevant, 'cos i don't want to own an ipod even so. What i do want to do (and did try to do), is the other way round - use itunes to buy music without requiring an ipod to play it on. the track i tried to download did, so it's useless to me, and it has conned me out of £0.79.

 

[bonj2]

...or carry on buying from wherever you are buying your tunes from now. As it's been pointed out above owning an iPod doesn't tie you into only ever buying from iTunes. You can still buy them from wherever else you like.

well, i will do - napster. I can use a conversion program to convert from wma to mp3, 'cos the wma while it is DRMed i dont think it's as 'heavily' DRMed as apple's itunes - it just uses windows' DRM, and this program that i've downloaded obviously knows how to convert those windows DRM wma files into mp3s. but i'm still slightly troubled that i'm paying for music, AND not completely sure that the conversion program i'm using is legal. Although, that made me think that what's "legal" and what's "illegal" isn't very strictly and clearly defined in law. For instance, what one music company says is illegal isn't always the same as what another company with different interests says is illegal, the discrepancy arising because it's never actually been tested in court.

 

[kyuss]

that's irrelevant, 'cos i don't want to own an ipod even so. What i do want to do (and did try to do), is the other way round - use itunes to buy music without requiring an ipod to play it on. the track i tried to download did, so it's useless to me, and it has conned me out of £0.79.

Fair point. But just do as alecstilleyedye said and buy the iTunes Plus version of the track. Recorded at a higher bitrate and no DRM. Most tracks are iTunes Plus now.

 

[Arch]

that's irrelevant, 'cos i don't want to own an ipod even so. What i do want to do (and did try to do), is the other way round - use itunes to buy music without requiring an ipod to play it on. the track i tried to download did, so it's useless to me, and it has conned me out of £0.79.

I've used itunes to buy music and I don't have an ipod, I have some no name MP3 player, you just use the burn to CD and reimport trick...

 

[alecstilleyedye]

drm is a waste of time. i have cds that claim to have drm protection, and list the various system requirements to allow them to be played on pcs.

into the mac ->itunes->rip

what a waste of time, the cost of which no doubt finds its way onto the cost of the cd.

if the recording industry thinks it's going to beat the pirates by drm and forcing isps to send nasty letters to file sharers, it's got another thing coming. there are sites that charge a monthy fee, for which you can download as much illegal material as you want. while there is money to be made from doing this, the pirates will keep ahead of the drm anyway.

 

[bonj2]

I've used itunes to buy music and I don't have an ipod, I have some no name MP3 player, you just use the burn to CD and reimport trick...

but that's a waste of CDs...

 

[Jaded]

but that's a waste of CDs...

You could be quite daring and use Re-Writable CDs?

 

[bonj2]

nah, takes too long. too much of a pain in the arse.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

well if bonj doesn't want an ipod, why on earth does it matter how other people get on with them

it's fixies all over again…

 

[jay clock]

I haven;t read the whole thread, but once you work out how to record the files to mp3 format, I used this tool to split up the larger mp3 file. It allows you to cut out all the crap, odd few seconds etc here and there very easily. http://www.yaosoft.com/ - I may have paid $10 for it after the free trial, but it is dead easy and works perfectly

 

[bobg]

I haven;t read the whole thread, but once you work out how to record the files to mp3 format, I used this tool to split up the larger mp3 file. It allows you to cut out all the crap, odd few seconds etc here and there very easily. http://www.yaosoft.com/ - I may have paid $10 for it after the free trial, but it is dead easy and works perfectly

Thanks Jay that'll be very useful,there's about an hour of really crap songs in the complete Lord of the Rings

 

[Carwash]

bonjy bonjy bonjy bonjy bonj...

What i do want to do (and did try to do), is the other way round - use itunes to buy music without requiring an ipod to play it on. the track i tried to download did, so it's useless to me, and it has conned me out of £0.79.

You don't need an iPod to play music purchased on iTMS. If it's not DRM'd (iTunes Plus - thanks alecs!) you can play it in iTunes or any portable device that supports that file-format (.m4a, I think). There are lots of these. If it is DRM'd, you can still play it in iTunes. You've not been conned out of any money - if you failed to make yourself aware of the limitations of the service before you began using it, that's your own silly fault, not Apple's!

well, i will do - napster. I can use a conversion program to convert from wma to mp3,

This is not a sensible practice - you're transcoding from one lossy format to another, and will sacrifice quality in the process. If you want to buy non-DRM'd MP3s online, why not just buy them (napster sells them) instead of buying something you don't want - DRM'd WMA files - and halving the quality when you transcode them!?

bonj, you are make not sense

...'cos the wma while it is DRMed i dont think it's as 'heavily' DRMed as apple's itunes - it just uses windows' DRM, and this program that i've downloaded obviously knows how to convert those windows DRM wma files into mp3s.

There are programs out there that will do exactly the same thing for your music purchased from iTMS. Well, not exactly the same: they'll strip out the DRM without transcoding the file, so quality is unaffected. As I recall, jHymn was the one to use back in the day, but there are probably others out there now.

...but i'm still slightly troubled that i'm paying for music,

bonj, allow me to introduce you to this wonderful technology called 'BitTorrent'...

...AND not completely sure that the conversion program i'm using is legal.

Well, I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know there's nothing illegal about taking a recording you have bought - be it on CD, WMA, whatever - and converting it to another format - e.g. MP3 - for your own personal use. This is called 'space shifting' in copyright law. It's no different to ripping a CD or DVD you own.

 

[bonj2]

bonjy bonjy bonjy bonjy bonj...



You don't need an iPod to play music purchased on iTMS. If it's not DRM'd (iTunes Plus - thanks alecs!) you can play it in iTunes or any portable device that supports that file-format (.m4a, I think). There are lots of these.

yes but the one i've got (my phone) isn't one of them.
and I don't want to restrict my choice of mp3 player to one that can play things that aren't actually mp3s.

If it is DRM'd, you can still play it in iTunes. You've not been conned out of any money - if you failed to make yourself aware of the limitations of the service before you began using it, that's your own silly fault, not Apple's!

It's down to apple's greediness that i've spent £0.79 on something i can't now use - i call that conning, and it's down to apple's greediness that I am not now going to use apple's mp3 sales service ever again, when if they hadn't been so tight and given me what's rightfully mine which I've paid for, then I would continue to use their service happily again in the future.

This is not a sensible practice - you're transcoding from one lossy format to another, and will sacrifice quality in the process.

hmm... i can't tell the difference. it's probably only frequencies that the human ear can't detect anyway...

If you want to buy non-DRM'd MP3s online, why not just buy them (napster sells them)

no it doesn't. it says in napster's user guide: "Each track you download from napster also downloads with a license". So, you are blatantly squarely wrong.
If you think you can download mp3s straight off napster, tell me how to do it then - is it just certain selected tracks (if so tell me what), or is it in your imagination - as that is what napster USED to be like?

the following blog echoes my dilemma:
http://geekswithblogs.net/btinkler/archive/2005/05/11/39395.aspx

 

[alecstilleyedye]

jesus, did you blame the corner shop for selling you mojos bonj?

 

[Jaded]

It's down to apple's greediness that i've spent £0.79 on something i can't now use

erm, no.

You buy roof bars for your VW and then expect them to work on your BMW?
You buy 35mm film and then expect it to work in your DSLR?