Slashdot Mirror
Universal Offers iPod-Resistant Music
dprovine writes "Universal is now offering music through Spiral Frog as free downloads supported by advertising revenue. But according to Daily Tech, the files being offered won't work on iPods. 'The move to not allow its content to be played on iPod's appears to be a clear snub by the Universal Music Group, similar to NBC's recent move of its television content from iTunes to Amazon.com. Apple has not commented on this development. For many, though, SpiralFrog.com presents an intriguing new business model that may present a legal alternative to file sharing or spending large amounts of money on CDs or paid download services, such as iTunes.'"
The reason their "MP3"s don't work on iPods is because they're not MP3s. They're PlaysForSure DRMed WMAs. This is high quality journalism at work. Slashdot editors should be proud.
She loves me: 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0 She loves me not: 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688BF
as noted in the comments to the DailyTech article itself. Slashdot editors ftw.
Not really an MP3, the Slashdot summary (and the line in the article) are misleading. Quote the SpiralFrog website:
Can I transfer the music I download to a portable device?
SpiralFrog is compatible with portable music players and music phones that support Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM). Look out for devices that prominently display the "PlaysForSure" logo.
So, they're not MP3s; they are WMA files with DRM. This is a nonstory.
Ha Ha. So take that, Apple. We'll show you.
(Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Anyone who believes the Windows DRM will make life easier for anyone is a damn fool.)
"The great thing about multitasking is that several things can go wrong at once." -me
Because Apple dropped them. NBC didn't pull their video from iTunes.. Apple did.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
How is Apple different: Because every song downloaded from the iTunes Store can be burned to CD and played on any CD player. They can also be re-read from CD in any desired format including MP3 or non-DRM AAC.
Further, Apple has publicly committed to DRM free music sales whenever the publisher will permit it. Apple claims they don't want DRM and it can't work anyway. "Apple Unveils Higher Quality DRM-Free Music on the iTunes Store".
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/02itunes.html
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/
It was a two-phase divorce: First NBC said they would not renew their contract to provide videos to the iTunes Store, as of its expiration in December. Then Apple said they would not sell any new content, effective immediately, because that would mean they would sell partial seasons of many shows (ie you could buy in October but not in January, so your collection would be partial at best).
Add to this the fact that their heads are firmly planted in their rectal cavities and the whole picture is complete.
actually, the songs wont play on a zune either.
Not quite. After skimming some Wikipedia articles, Universal Music Group is wholly owned by Vivendi, who also owns Blizzard and Sierra. NBC-Universal, on the other hand, is owned 80% by GE and 20% by Vivendi. Not the same company. Not sure if that's enough ownership for them to influence each other's policy.
not great for zune users. it doesn't work on those either.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Isn't "Plays for Sure" the code phrase that means "won't play on Zune"?
to record it. Simple analog hack defeats complicated DRM encryption thingy.
Better than the analog hack, use a digital hack: don't go out the analog out and back in through analog in. Instead, get a sound card with S/PDIF ins and outs. Loop from the out to the in with the appropriate cable, press record on the recording program and play on the other, and off you go. Digital copies!
It's probably best to choose a sound card that uses its own drivers and does NOT use the Windows mixer.
Also note that modern Macs have TOSLINK (basically S/PDIF over an optical connection) capability built into the 1/8" analog in and out jacks, so get an optical fiber and connect them together and go. (Or use Audio Hijack and be done with it.) Oh, yeah, I realize that whatever the original subject here was doesn't support Macs, but whatever.
Actually, it doesn't "beg the question"... it raises the question, but it doesn't beg it.
""Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which an argument is assumed to be true without evidence other than the argument itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.
A simple example would be "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly." The adjective "ugly" does not explain why the subject is "unattractive" -- they virtually amount to the same subjective meaning, and the proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question."
I'm only pointing it out because I made the same mistake in a paper recently and my teacher called me on it... not trying to troll! It's a common mistake!
AAC doesn't work on the Xbox360 without installing some additional stuff on it. Also, I don't think the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 are really considered iPod wannabes, which is what the GP was talking about. They're not really the kind of thing I'd want to carry around in my pocket all day.
CATS/Diebold '08- All your vote are belong to us!
iTunes Plus is not DRMed. That is all I use.
I use Creative Recorder 2, which allows you to record anything processed by the sound card. I doubt it would work without a Creative sound card though.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
because i put a disc in and rarely switch the TV over to the DVD player right away
SCART does this autmatically for you... Insert DVD, TV gets notified and switches to the TV-IN channel.