Jan
23
2009
i Buy Tunes at Amazon (DRM Free)
Author: Steve Martin
Let me start out by saying that the people at Apple are very good marketers. They come out with a shiny new device, give it a clever cute name that starts with a lower case i, and convince people that they can’t live without it. Forget the fact that it costs double what other companies charge for similar items. Forget the fact that the nice new shiny product is designed to lock you into using their software in order to make them more money. Just open your wallet and buy from Apple.
You may think that I am bitter towards Apple but I truly am not. I appreciate them very much. They do come out with some very innovative products. And, their product designs are very sexy and second to none. I don’t believe I have ever found any Windows PC hardware that is half as stylish as the iMac. All PC and other electronics manufacturers should take lessons from Apple and their clever, innovative product designs.
I most especially appreciate Apple for revolutionizing the music industry. Before they created the iPod, the only way to get music online was to download it illegally from Napster or Kazaa or some other Peer-2-Peer program. We really didn’t have any other online option but to become cyber criminals. Then the iPod came out, and with it…iTunes. Finally we no longer had to lay awake at night filled with the guilt of having downloaded hundreds of songs without paying for them. We had a way to get the same stuff legally. Each song only a buck, sometimes even cheaper. Buying an actual CD just seems weird anymore. Thanks Apple.
But, did you know that all the music you download from iTunes is locked up? That’s right, the MP4 format is embedded with DRM technology. What the heck is DRM? It stands for Digital Rights Management and it is designed to limit the way you use your music. In the case of Apple and iTunes, I believe you are limited to listening to the music on up to 5 devices. Well, I don’t want Apple or the music industry to be able to decide how many devices I can listen to my legally purchased music on. What if I want to listen to it on SIX devices. If purchased through iTunes, I just plain can’t. Luckily, iTunes is NOT the only place to purchase music online.
Initially, I was like most people and didn’t fully realize that everything purchased through iTunes was all locked up. And, once I found out it was, I didn’t realize I had other options anyway. Then I learned about Amazon MP3 Downloads. Through Amazon MP3 Downloads, you can get the same music found at iTunes without any DRM protection whatsoever. You can still use iTunes to play your music purchased at Amazon or you can choose to use Windows Media Player or both (or any other media player for that matter). The MP3 format is the only format fully compatible with virtually ANY portable digital music player. From what I understand, the Microsoft Zune cannot play music purchased from iTunes, just like the iPod can’t play music ripped in the Microsoft WMA format. So, stick with MP3s and you are universally compatible all the way around. If you are ripping your physical CDs, make sure you rip them as MP3 files. This means you will have to change the default settings in both Windows Media Player and/or iTunes as both Microsoft and Apple want to lock you into using their format as it then locks you into using their software and their products.
I have rambled MUCH more than I had intended to for this article. The main point of the article is to let you know that you CAN get DRM free music through Amazon so go check it out and enjoy your music without limitations. In the long run, you’ll be glad to be free of the DRM chains, even if you don’t yet realize it.
