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.'"

Comments

not mp3!

[douthat]

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.

Re:not mp3!

[douthat]

It should be noted that the Slashdot editors changed the title of the article from "Universal Offers iPod-Resistant MP3s" to "Universal Offers iPod-Resistant Music"

not MP3 - WMA

[Animaether]

as noted in the comments to the DailyTech article itself. Slashdot editors ftw.

Re:not MP3 - WMA

[QRDeNameland]

Excellent post...but I'd like to point out that The Tipping Point was written by Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm McDowell is this guy.

Re:How can it not work?

[Coopjust]

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.

no Zune support

[ksheff]

looks like the million or so Zune owners won't be able to use these files.

Q: Are files downloaded from SpiralFrog compatible with the iPod or Zune?

A: Songs and video files that you download from SpiralFrog are not compatible with Apple's range of iPods or Microsoft's Zune.

Re:Which begs the question...

[larry bagina]

(non DRM) AAC is supported by:

• iPod
• Zune
• Zen
• SanDisk
• PSP
• Walkman
• XBox 360
• PS 3
• Blackberry
• Nokia
• Sony Ericsson
• Motorola
• Samsung
• Palm
• Anything running windows mobile
• ...

Re:How can it not work?

[Bassman59]

what if I took a stereo mini to mini and plugged the output from my computer to the audio input, then used an audio recording software (audacity, its free)
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.