Which songs aren't drm protected?
Digital Rights Management or DRM is a scheme that controls access to copyrighted material using technological means. It may refer to the usage of proprietary software, hardware, or any type of content: music tracks, video files, ebooks, games, DVD movies, emails, documents, etc.
DRM is all about copyright protection. We all know that any digital content is protected by copyright laws. However, it’s very difficult to police the Web and catch law-breakers. So DRM technology focuses on making it impossible to steal content in the first place. SEE ALSO: How to Convert DVD to MP4 SEE ALSO: 20 Best Sites with Free Ebooks
DRM imposes some technological restrictions that control what users can do with the digital media. For example, a song can be listened to, but not copied or shared; an ebook can be viewed on a certain type of device; a single-player game can be played only with the Internet connection; an email can’t be forwarded. In other words, DRM creates a defective product, which completely satisfies the copyright protection needs.
In all cases DRM is a two-part scheme. The first part is the encryption to protect the content itself and the second is an authentication system to ensure that only authorized users can unlock the files. Here various keys, licenses, login-password combinations are used.
Roughly, DRM scheme can be illustrated in this way:
When you buy a DRM-protected product or service, your device is regictered by the provider server and receives a key. If the digital content provider allows you to use their property on several devices, each of them also received the key once you log in into your account.
A user possessing a DRM-protected digital content can use it only in the way(s) set by the respective copyright holders and implemented with various programming methods. Here are some of them:
The largest part of paid digital content is DRM-protected. But mostly it concerned video/DVD, music files, and ebooks. Let’s see how to check if a file has any type of DRM protection.
SEE ALSO: DVD Menu Creator: How to Burn a DVD with Your Own Menu using our Free DVD Burner Software
If you have some audio or video file on your PC, you can easily check if it’s protected or no. Follow the steps:
It is even easier with DVD discs. You can understand if it is protected or not even without putting it inside your PC.
If you wrote a DVD yourself, for example by converting AVI to DVD, it’s not protected. If the disc is licensed, bought in an official shop, the content is DRM-protected. It goes without saying. But if you doubt, you may also check the following things:
Instead of checking the above things, you may learn if DVD is copyrighted or not with the help of a special copyright checker – DVD Decrypter. Just add a DVD disc and view its info.
As a rule, all the ebooks purchased from the iBookstore are DRM-protected. You may check it yourself:
SEE ALSO: Free M4V Converter: Change iTunes Video Format Easily
In the same way, you may check any other item in iTunes, for example audio:
DRM system has both supporters and opponents. Many software tools are learned to bypass and even take off DRM-protection. From the right holders’ perspective, DRM doesn’t generate a lot of revenues. Online and offline piracy is still flourishing, otherwise the following pie would have different values.
And what is your opinion concerning DRM-protection?
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- Fail to transfer Apple Music to some devices for streaming, such as Android tablet, iPod Shuffle, PS4.
- Can’t burn Apple Music to a CD or transfer to USB for playing in the car.
- All songs you've added or downloaded to your library from the Apple Music catalog will no longer be playable after canceling subscription.
- No way to set Apple Music as iPhone ringtone.
- So on……
Of course, apart from Apple Music, some other music streaming services have similar restrictions – the large content creators demand them. In this case, you are supposed to get a powerful tool to get rid of these limitations. Here in this article, we'll mainly introduce an excellent program for Apple Music users to download songs from Apple Music without DRM protection, that is NoteBurner iTunes Audio Converter.
NoteBurner iTunes Audio Converter is a smart and easy-to-use Apple Music DRM removal tool for Apple Music users, which is specially developed to strip DRM restriction from Apple Music streams while converting the locked songs from M4P to MP3, FLAC, AAC, AIFF, WAV, or ALAC format at 10X speed.
- Choose the media file.
- Right click on it to open the Properties menu.
- There choose the tab Details and among all the categories find “Protected”. The verdict is clear – you will see “Yes” or “Not”.
The first major label to take the plunge was EMI Music, which teamed up with Apple in May to release its entire online catalog through a DRM-free area of the Apple music store called iTunes Plus. Also in May, Amazon announced that it would launch an MP3-only online music store with songs from major labels by the end of the year.
Just this week, Wal-Mart began selling unprotected MP3s of many Universal Music Group and EMI songs through its website. RealNetworks, MTV, and Verizon have also teamed up to launch Rhapsody America, a music service catered toward mobile phone users that will provide DRM-free downloads, in the near future. Even LimeWare, a P2P software maker, has recently announced that it plans to be part of the DRM-free movement (this time legitimately).
Some of the major music companies have been more tentative than others. EMI has thrown the most weight into the DRM-free movement by unlocking all of its online music. While Universal has agreed to release thousands of unprotected albums and tracks through several online retailers – RealNetworks, Google, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and gBox – it has done so on a trial basis that will extend only until January 2008, at which point the company will decide whether it thinks DRM-free music boosts or hurts sales. Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are still standing on the sidelines of the DRM-free movement and appear to be waiting to see how EMI and Universal fare by opening up.
While the progression of things suggests that all online music will eventually be DRM-free, there’s no need to wait to get in on the DRM-free action. Check out the DRM-free online music retailers below to get better quality music that plays on virtually any handheld music device, on any computer, and with any music program. The retailers covered provide music from both major and minor labels.
Update: We have been informed by a RealNetworks representative that “there are no current plans for a major overhaul of Rhapsody’s store front when Rhapsody America launches” and “there are no plans to increase the number of DRM-free songs available for sale. The number will only change if Universal Music Group decides to offer more albums.” So don’t hold out for Rhapsody America, because apparently the DRM-free offering of that service will be the same as that of the current version of Rhapsody.
iTunes Plus
Apple is the eight hundred pound gorilla, controlling something like 70 to 80% of the online music retail market. CEO Steve Jobs predicted in May that over half of the songs provided through the iTunes Store would be DRM-free by the end of this year.
While most of us are familiar with the iTunes Store, you may not have noticed the discreet link to the iTunes Plus sub-store under “Quick Links” on the store’s homepage. iTunes Plus provides 256kbps DRM-free AAC files for $1.29 per song or $9.99+ per album. That’s a 30 cent per-song premium over DRM-protected songs sold through the iTunes Store.
Already bought a ton of music from Apple? You can upgrade your DRM-protected collection to DRM-free for 30 cents per song, 30% of the current album price per album, and 60 cents per music video. Of course, you’ll only be able to upgrade those songs and videos in your collection that are offered through iTunes Plus.
Artists available on iTunes Plus include Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Gorillaz, and The Beastie Boys.
WalMart
Wal-Mart may not be as sexy as Apple but the retail giant does provide DRM-free music from both Universal and EMI. On Tuesday, Wal-Mart began offering 256kbps MP3 versions of much of its music for 94 cents per track or $9.22 per album. These DRM-free offerings are in addition to Wal-Mart’s previous 128kbps DRM-protected WMA files for 88 cents per song or $9.44 per album.
One big downside to Wal-Mart’s online store: you can only download music using a Windows machine. This limitation alone will make it very difficult for Wal-Mart to compete with Apple for mind share.
Artists include Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, Pink Floyd, Nelly, and Bon Jovi.
gBox
Feeling generous? gBox, which we covered recently, lets you buy DRM-free music not just for yourself but for others as well. gBox users can create music wishlists that can be embedded in other websites and used by friends, family, and lovers to buy music for the list creator.
Universal is the one major label that has agreed to sell music DRM-free through gBox. Songs are 99 cents each and albums are $9.99 each.
Unfortunately, as with Wal-Mart, Mac users who would like to download from gBox are out of luck. This will put a damper on gBox’s otherwise highly viral business strategy of allowing wishlists to be embedded in social networks.
eMusic
You may not have heard of eMusic but the service, with over 2.5 million songs available, is second only to iTunes when it comes to online music sales. Founded in 1998, eMusic was the first company to sell MP3s, which it continues to do on a subscription, rather than per-unit, basis.
Subscriptions come in two flavors: $9.99 per month for up to 30 downloads per month, or $19.99 per month for up to 75 downloads per month. The coolest thing about their subscriptions: once they end, you still get to keep your music, unlike with other subscription services such as Napster. New users also get 25 songs for free.
While eMusic has a long tradition of selling DRM-free music, they still have yet to get in on any major label action. You won’t find any music from Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, or Warner here. But if you eschew popular music anyway, eMusic could be perfect for you.
Audio Lunchbox
If you like eMusic, you’ll probably like Audio Lunchbox as well. The company’s more than 2 million songs are DRM-free and completely indie.
Customers can choose to pay for their music on a subscription or per-unit basis.
Subscriptions range from $9.99 per month to $250 per year. On a per-unit basis, songs are 99 cents each and albums are $9.99 each.
All downloads are 192kbps VBR MP3 files.
AmieStreet
All songs offered by the iTunes Store come without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection. These DRM-free songs, called iTunes Plus, have no usage restrictions and feature high-quality, 256 kbps AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) encoding.
