Slashdot Mirror
Apple to Launch iTunes for Windows
An anonymous reader writes "According to this AppleInsider.com article published earlier this morning, Apple has planned an event for next Thursday to formally introduce their iTunes player and online music store for the Windows platform."
ZDNet.com
I have over 70 freaks, do you?
That existed... until today. Emusic offered pretty much all of that, minus the top 40, and it just announced today that it was suspending unlimited downloads and moving to a horribly limited pricing scheme.
here
iTunes works with a number of USB MP3 players in addition to the iPod. I personally use it with a Rio. Works like a charm ;-)
1) NO DRM
The RIAA won't let them. They couldn't offer the selection they do if they didn't use DRM. However, read the terms of service - once you download the DRM-restricted file, you can burn it to an unrestricted audio CD. Or several audio CDs. In addition to copying it to one or two other Macs, or streaming it across the LAN, or copying it to an iPod, etc. Compare this to other DRM schemes.
2) Unlimitted downloads
You can download as many as you want, for $0.99/track. Or play 30-second previews for free (I don't even have an account, and I do this all the time, to see whether I like something before placing a hold at the public library). There are no subscription fees.
3) Wide selection (including indie music)
They have something like a quarter of a million tracks, with more being added, and they want to add as much indie music as possible (Apple will only deal with record labels, but cdbaby.com is a record label and will accept just about anybody). Building their selection takes time.
4) At least some top40 music
They've got that.
5) An easy way to find browse for music you're not familiar with (perhaps integrating a user rating system)
They've definitely got that. Look at an album, and get links to other albums that people who've bought this album have also bought. Plenty of stuff on the home page, all chosen by Apple's staff, not placed there by advertising dollars. Navigation is excellent - better, in fact, than browsing your own MP3 collection (I hope they implement the little arrow buttons next to Artist & Album in iTunes 5...).
Today's Top Songs:
Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
Hey Ya! - OutKast
White Flag - Dido
Fallen - Sarah McLachlan
The First Cut Is the Deepest - Sheryl Crow
Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas & Justin Timberlake
Baby Boy - Beonce & Sean Paul
Hey Ya! (Radio Mix) - OutKast
Fallen - Sarah McLachlan
Bad Day (Amended Album Version) - R.E.M.
Can someone explain to me what the difference is between the two versions of "Fallen"? One is 3:51 and the other is 3:47, and the previews sound the same to me.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
I know Windows has the larger market share, but what about Linux? Surely, it cannot be that difficult to port from OSX (BSD-based) to Linux.
This is a common myth. The command-line user-space environment is FreeBSD-based, but the GUI is proprietary. iTunes is written with the Carbon APIs, which do not exist anywhere but Mac OS X, classic Mac OS, and a partial implementation in QuickTime for Windows.
No, the QuickTime movie players for Linux don't count; QuickTime is far more than a movie player.
If it were written with Cocoa instead, it might be possible to port it to GNUstep with some work.
By the way, I specifically said user-space; the kernel is also completely different which means hardware drivers are completely different. Don't expect that porting Linux or FreeBSD drivers to Mac OS X should be trivial either.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Sitting in a recording studio, I ripped a track from a CD, using iTunes, and set it to AAC 128. After matching the levels, I set up one stereo fader to have the AAC, the other the CD. They both started at about the same time. Switching between them, the audio quality was indistinguishable.
This method was further used on several different CDs which were all different types of music. We went through alternative, big band, contemporary jazz, disco, electronica, and pretty much the rest of the alphabet through zydeco, and found the same result. The three distinguished engineers in the room couldn't tell the difference.
However, when we took a piece being played directly from the sequencer in the other control room, ripped it to AAC, SD2, and AIFF, then switched between them, we could hear the "live" performance over the other two.
The playback was done through a Neve Capricorn from a Mac playing through Apogee converters for Pro Tools. The monitors used were Meyer HD-1 and X-10. This closely mirrors a test I did back when the AACs first started showing up and we found similar results.
Plant a tree in a developing country.
Apple allows, and even encourages, you to back up your music files. The page refers only to CD burning, but the files can be freely copied around the hard disk and between computers with the Finder. You can still play any of the copies on authorized computers, all the DRM data is internal.
There is no such thing as a standard AAC file. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a codec, not a file format. The AAC files created by iTunes are actually
Other players could definitely play the m4a files if they worked out the file format. Knowing Apple the file format is probably readily available to developers. The m4p files, by nature of the encryption, would require either cracking the encryption or partnering with Apple in order to play on a 3rd party music player.
Here are the notes for the MPEG-2 AAC Standard and the MPEG-4 AAC Standard
Sapere aude!
Install the SLiMP3 server software on your Mac. It reads the iTunes database, and streams out on port 9000. The other player (Windows, Linux...whatever) opens up the stream on http://:9000/stream.mp3, and then you open a browser window to http://:9000 to control what gets played.
It's not perfect - one hassle I found was that the client machine had often buffered so much that it took a while to respond to my commands on the web interface. But it's free, and it works.
Cheers,
Ian
Actually all you need to do is change the order of the songs in the playlist and you can then burn them another 10 times. I believe even adding a 1 second blank track to the end of the playlist would work also.
I think the point is that it is a tiny speed bump to trip up someone who is trying to mass duplicate a downloaded CD. No one who has a legitimate use for the CD is going to realistically need to burn it more than 10 times so most people won't be bothered by this limitation. However, someone mass duplicating the CD would have to fiddle with it every 10 tries and would not create a perfect copy after they moved stuff around.
So yeah it's just a nod towards DRM but it's enough to get the music companies to allow Apple to sell their stuff. Remember that Apple is the first to get a bunch of major labels to agree to selling individual tracks electronically. In order to do this there had to be some roadblocks to mass duplication.
Sapere aude!
The only thing stopping creative from being able to play iTMS songs is Creative's decision to not support.
The AAC format is an OPEN STANDARD.
This is similar to what is stopping Apple from putting Ogg on the iPod... Apple's decision.
Now, on the flip side...
I don't suppose that the new music services using WMA files would be compatible with the iPod.
No - and that is not Apple's fault. WMA files are a closed, proprietary standard.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
Apparently you've never wanted to play your music on any non-apple product without first expanding your files to 12x their original size, and then possibly having to re-compress them to another format.
Burning an audio CD from AAC is hardly a chore in iTunes. I trust you've used it?
I also imagine you've never had to deal with losing a hard disk full of all those precious songs and having to redownload and re-license them for your new machine because you can't just copy them over.
I call bullshit again. First of all, keeping regular backups is part of commonly accepted good computing practices. If you can't do that, it's hardly apple's fault. In this KB article - here - they tell you outright to backup your stuff.
Moreover: "redownload"? That's odd. In the same KB article, it says:
(emphasis mine)
Has Apple given you special dispensation for a hard drive crash, or are you just lying?
Second, I'm not sure what version of iTunes you're using, but when I relicensed my songs, it was as easy as entering my iTMS info in the little dialog. Boom, the machine is now licensed.
I won't debate on sound quality; people who have decided AAC sucks simply won't change their minds. My feeling it, it could be better, and eventually it will be. I will also ignore the implicit accusation that I'm somehow stupid, because my ear finds AAC acceptable.
Lastly, "the rest of us"? Provide solid numbers on this boycott, please.
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
There is no such thing as a standard AAC file. AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a codec, not a file format.
.m4a files and the files that come from the iTunes Music Store are .m4p files.
Right.
The AAC files created by iTunes are actually
Right
Basically the m4a and m4p files are Quicktime files that use AAC encoding to store music.
Actually m4a files are just MPEG bitsreams presented as a file - they're not a special format. You can extract the AAC component using a tool such as mp4UI (which is based on the MPEG4IP tools).
The m4a data is unencrypted and the m4p data is encrypted.
Yes. And I don't think there is a published spec for the file format OR the encryption. I'm sure it won't be long before someone finds a workaround to extract the original AAC bitstream by leveraging Apple's own software (peeking at memory).
Other players could definitely play the m4a files if they worked out the file format. Knowing Apple the file format is probably readily available to developers.
Yes... well, actually there's nothing to work out. Just grab MPEG4IP and you can extract them yourself.
The m4p files, by nature of the encryption, would require either cracking the encryption or partnering with Apple in order to play on a 3rd party music player.
I have no doubt that the first will happen if/when ITMS becomes very popular (in spite of the second probably not happening any time soon).
Da Blog
Apparently you've never wanted to play your music on any non-apple product without first expanding your files to 12x their original size, and then possibly having to re-compress them to another format
.m4p to .m4a, and QT for windows glady plays the file.
When I want to do that, I copy the file over to my windows computer, change the name from
click for more info
Or I could likewise use a program like Audio Hijack and take the digital sound from my computer and rencode it as m4a
I also imagine you've never had to deal with losing a hard disk full of all those precious songs and having to redownload and re-license them for your new machine because you can't just copy them over.
As opposed to say, having to repurchase all of your CDs if your house burns down? I thought we were all past the point where we never made backups of our systems.
Certainly though, you've drunk Apple's cool-aid with respect to AAC having acceptable sound quality, despite strong evidence that it's only *marginally* better than MP3 at low bit rates (which ITMS files are).
Relevant to DRM because....?
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
The m4p files, by nature of the encryption, would require either cracking the encryption or partnering with Apple in order to play on a 3rd party music player.
Actually any program that uses QuickTime for MPEG reading can read them if you are logged in to the computer. It seems to be automatic. This is how the m4p -> AIFF converters work.
t'nera semordnilap
on mac, this freeware works great--records anything coming out of soundcard to .wav or aiff file (you can even have it save that recording to iTunes, which will autoconvert it to MP3--but then you have two copies of hte song). i've done longish tracks (5 or so minutes) and nary a problem.m acosx/2016 7
http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/
Wiretap
and
audio hijack pro
AAC only applies to downloaded music. You can transfer it to 3 machines, send it to an portable player, burn it to your hearts content, or convert it into a different format without DRM.
Moreover, iTunes has setting to rip to MP3, AAC, and AIFF by default. You never have to use AAC if you don't want to. (actually I think music ripped to AAC doesn't have password protection)
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Re-encoding does NOT violate the ITMS terms of service. I just read through it from your link, and it is not trying to circumvent or reversen engineer their security system. I did notice something weird in their terms of service, though. On the main page, there is a section under Usage Rules that says "You shall be entitled to export, burn or copy Products solely for personal, noncommercial use." However, section 5 under the heading Policies and Rules has a link that goes to a page called Terms of Sale that tells stuff about taxes, prices, etc. It also has a section called Content Usage Rules that repeats much of the earlier description. This one, however, contains this line "You shall be entitled to burn and export Products solely for personal, non-commercial use." Do you think there's a reason they didn't just copy the text from one page to another? I'm not just asking to be a nitpicker, but because I think export and copy are the applicable terms when you talk about ripping to mp3. I believe this statement in their Terms of Use specifically allows any form of format conversion you want to do. When people complain about it being a lossy or bad quality format when extracted that way, I think I would have to say that you are given two options if you want to comply with copyright law. Go buy the CD so you can make your own high quality rips, or get the songs cheaper and tolerate a little lower quality. Why is it so hard to understand that choices involve weighing pros and cons? Life is not about getting everything you want with no sacrifice, and that should be applied to a lot more than just music. Think of the huge number of bankruptcies in this country due to credit card debt.
We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
Yes, and more. AAC is just another audio format; you can convert to and from it freely, just as with MP3.
What the iTunes Music Store is selling is protected AAC files; they use the same audio coding, but have a slightly different wrapper format, and have a different file extension (.M4P I think). It's those files which are restricted - you can only play them on your up to 3 authorised machines, &c.
(I don't speak from experience here - as a non-USian, I don't have access, grump grump grump.)
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
Apple is most definitely concerned with market share - it's the only way they can keep the platform from further being ghetto-ized. I'm not saying Boo about Apple's innovation - they "get it", already. They need to somehow get everyone ELSE to "get it".
Apple has succeeded in the last two years simply by not offering a commodity product, and that's the balance that Apple has to try and walk: create amazingly cool shit that folks will somehow differentiate from a $600 costco PC, and be willing to spend the difference. The eMac is certainly a great deal, but why can't we buy it in Costco, where I'm certain it would sell? Apple is obviously NOT emphasizing these low-profit models, and it's probably why they're as healthy as they are.
sloth jr
Troll.
Apple got their temporary partnership with MS. In exchange, MS promised to make Office and IE for the Mac until recently (this years?), and Apple dropped their lawsuit.
MS only purchased 5% of non-voting stock in the deal, which they sold later at profit, so they didn't "beg for crumbs" as you put it.