Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Transfer iTunes to BlackBerry Storm

"With a unique touch screen and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities, the BlackBerry Storm smartphone makes a great impression as you travel across town or to almost any corner of the world."

One of the great new features I am starting to enjoy on my BlackBerry Storm is the ability for it to play multimedia files and specifically audio (music).

First let's take a look at the video and audio formats supported by BlackBerry Storm:

Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMA ProPlus

Basically, when you buy music from iTunes, it comes with a copyright protection called DRM. These DRM-protected songs are locked so that they only work with Apple MP3 players. That means that if you have a BlackBerry Storm, you cannot use iTunes music.

So, what is the solution? You have to burn a CD. When you do this, the DRM is removed (because the music is converted to a non-DRM-compatible media). After you burn the CD, you can rip it to your PC as an MP3 file which no longer has DRM.

Alternatively, you can use TuneClone. TuneClone makes a virtual CD-ROM drive, tricking your PC into believing that you are burning a CD. Therefore, the DRM is removed without wasting a CD.

Here is a link to a tutorial using TuneClone and iTunes 8:
http://www.tuneclone.com/itunes8-m4p-to-mp3.php



After you get the output MP3 files, you can now begin to transfer them to your BlackBerry Storm:

1. Connect your BlackBerry to you computer via the USB cable.
2. If you have properly enabled your Blackberry as a Mass Storage Device, your Blackberry's microSD card will show as a removable drive on your computer.
3. Double click on the Blackberry folder.
4. Double click on the music folder.
5. Copy your music files to your BlackBerry.
6. Disconnect your Blackberry from the USB cable and go to the "Multimedia" icon on you Blackberry. You need to disconnect when you use the Mass Storage device method as it disables direct access from the BlackBerry when connected to the PC via the USB cable.
7. Click on the Music icon.
8. Click on the Media Card folder.
9. Select your Music folder.
10. Select your Song.
11. Play and enjoy.

Done.

Monday, December 22, 2008

How to remove iTunes DRM from protected AAC M4P M4B

Are you annoyed by iTunes DRM? Do you want to remove it because you want to play the iTunes music on non-Apple MP3 players like PSP, Zune, Creative Zen, BlackBerry, PS3, iriver, Walkman, mobile phone MP3 player, etc., use it as background music in a home video, or anything else that DRM limits it to do? Many people know you can remove the DRM from iTunes music by simply burning the song to a CD, and ripping it back over, losing very little quality(if settings are correct):

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You'd better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the encrypted iTunes music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

And the method I am going to introduce does the same exact thing but you will not need a CD-RW disc, a CD ROM drive, or even need to burn anything! It's that simple. Let's show you how to perform this.

We are going to be using a program called TuneClone. TuneClone is basically a program that acts as a virtual CD drive that allows you "burn" MP3 from iTunes and "rip" it. TuneClone "lies" to your computer saying that you have a CD-RW drive that it will burn to (like Alchohol 120%). You can use this to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. This is a useful tool for anyone looking to break their relationship with the iPod. The best part is that it maintains all of the music file's metadata. Below is the step by step tutorial that shows how it works:

1. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com and install it.

TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. A virtual CD Burner will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.

2. Make settings at TuneClone

Convert protected AAC/M4P to MP3

Click the Settings button at TuneClone. In the pop-up window, you can specify the output folder, output filenames, output format, etc. for the output files.

Note: Apart from MP3, TuneClone also allows you to convert iTunes M4P to WAV and unprotected WMA.
Tip: You can get the output protection removed music folder by clicking the Folder button after the whole process.

3. Make settings at iTunes(iTunes 8 )

Create a playlist, and then add the files you want to convert into the playlist.

Create a new playlist in iTunes 8

After you have created the playlist ready to be burnt, click the Burn Disc in the bottom right of iTunes.

In the pop up window of Burn Settings, make the settings as highlighted below:

Burn Settings at iTunes 8

4. Start to burn

Click the Burn button to start burning.

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3, WMA or WAV. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

TuneClone Burning

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

Monday, December 15, 2008

TuneClone V1.30 - remove DRM from iTunes M4P M4B WMA Napster using virtual CD drive

The newest version of TuneClone - TuneClone V1.30 - was released on December 15,2008!

TuneClone Audio Converter is a powerful yet easy to use DRM remover and music converter program for removing DRM from iTunes music, Windows Media Player music, RealPlayer music, WinAMP music, Napster music, Rhapsody music, etc., with the music metadata well preserved.



Unlike other media converters, TuneClone Audio Converter applies the virtual CD burning technology to remove the DRM. It generates a virtual CD-ROM drive, tricking your PC into believing that you are burning a CD. Therefore, the DRM is removed without wasting a CD.

TuneClone Audio Converter can be used to convert iTunes protected AAC (M4P), M4B, M4A, protected WMA to MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA. It removes the DRM from protected iTunes M4P or protected WMA so as to help you play the DRM-laden music on media players or MP3 players like Microsoft Zune, Sony PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zune, iriver, SanDisk Sansa, Sony Walkman, Cell Phone(Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia N-series, Samsung Anycall, LG, etc.) Pocket PC, PDA and so on.

Key features of TuneClone V1.30: (from http://www.tuneclone.com)

1. Easy to install and easy to use via a simple user interface.

2. Remove DRM from purchased or protected music from iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, WinAMP, Napster, Rhapster, etc, using automatically generated virtual CD drive.

3. Convert DRM protected music to plain MP3 format for playback on all kinds of MP3 players or media players like Zune, PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zen, iriver, Walkman, etc.

4. Remove DRM from purchased music files by applying the virtual CD burning technology, which adopts the maximum writing speed so that your music files can be converted at a very high speed.

5. Convert iTunes protected AAC (M4P), M4B and M4A to MP3, WAV and WMA.

6. Convert protected WMA (Windows Media Audio) to MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA.

7. Well Preserve ID3 tags for artist, album, title names, artworks, etc.

8. The converted songs will have no DRM restriction any more.

Availability, price and support

More information about TuneClone V1.30 is available at http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php. You can free download TuneClone V1.30 from http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe for a try.

The full version of TuneClone V1.30 costs USD34.95.

If you have questions about or show interest in TuneClone V1.30, please feel free to contact TuneClone support team via support@tuneclone.com.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Remove DRM from iTunes with TuneClone virtual CD burner

Basically, when you buy music from iTunes, it comes with a copyright protection called DRM. These DRM-protected songs are locked so that they only work with Apple MP3 players. That means that if you bought a Microsoft Zune, you cannot use iTunes music.

So, what is the solution? You have to burn a CD. When you do this, the DRM is removed (because the music is converted to a non-DRM-compatible media). After you burn the CD, you can rip it to your PC as an MP3 file which no longer has DRM.

Alternatively, you can use TuneClone (http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php).

TuneClone

TuneClone makes a virtual CD-ROM drive, tricking your PC into believing that you are burning a CD. Therefore, the DRM is removed without wasting a CD.

Here is a link to a tutorial using TuneClone and iTunes 8:
http://itunesm4ptomp3.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/convert-itunes8-music-to-mp3/

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Rhapsody to iTunes for iPod

Music purchased from Rhapsody is under DRM protection, which stops customers from playing the downloaded music with other incompatible devices like Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune. If you don't continue to pay, you won't keep the music when the subscription expires. As we all know, iPod is one of the most popular and successful MP3 players. iPod owners can purchase various music songs from iTunes Store and listen to them with their iPods. However, if you prefer Rhapsody and find some songs in Rhapsody that are unavailable in iTunes store, yet you do want to enjoy these songs witn your new iPod, you are meeting the headache of Naspter being incompatible with iPod. So the following tutorial should be the solution.

The tools you will need:

TuneClone Audio Converter
Rhapsody Software
iPod
iTunes Library

1. Make settings in TuneClone Audio Converter

Download TuneClone (fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista) from http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe and install it. After launching TuneClone, click the "Settings" button. In the pop-up dialog of "Options", you can specify the "Output Folder", "Output Filenames", "Output Format" (here we choose MP3), etc. for the output files.

Tip: You can get the output protection removed MP3 music folder by clicking the "Folder" button after the whole process.

TuneClone to convert DRM protected Rhapsody music to iTunes MP3 for iPod

2. Create a new playlist in Rhapsody

In the center left panel of Rhapsody, navigate to "Playlist". Then in the bottom left corner, click "New" to create a new playlist.

Click "File" and select "New Playlist" to create a new playlist in Rhapsody.

Drag and drop the music you are ready to burn to the new playlist from Rhapsody Library.

Transfer Rhapsody playlist to iPod

3. Make CD burning settings in Rhapsody

Click "Tools" and select "Preference..." from the drop-down list. Click "CD Burning" from the list in the left panel. In the "CD Burner Options", choose TuneClone virtual CD drive as preferred CD burner.

TuneClone to remove DRM and convert Rhapsody music to iPod

4. Start to burn

Click the "Burn CD" button to start the burning and encoding process.

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

TuneClone to remove Rhapsody DRM for iPod

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

After you get the output MP3 files converted from the Rhapsody music playlist in your Rhapsody, you can now begin to transfer the MP3 files to your iPod with the sync of iTunes.

Monday, December 01, 2008

How to transfer Napster music playlist to iTunes playlist for iPod

Music purchased from Napster is under DRM protection, which stops customers from playing the downloaded music with other incompatible devices like Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune. If you don't continue to pay, you won't keep the music when the subscription expires. As we all know, iPod is one of the most popular and successful MP3 players. iPod owners can purchase various music songs from iTunes Store and listen to them with their iPods. However, if you prefer Napster and find some songs in Napster that are unavailable in iTunes store, yet you do want to enjoy these songs witn your new iPod, you are meeting the headache of Naspter being incompatible with iPod. So the following tutorial should be the solution.

The tools you will need:

TuneClone Audio Converter
Napster Software
iPod
iTunes Library

1. Make settings in TuneClone Audio Converter

Download TuneClone (fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista) from http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php and install it. After launching TuneClone, click the "Settings" button. In the pop-up dialog of "Options", you can specify the "Output Folder", "Output Filenames", "Output Format" (here we choose MP3), etc. for the output files.

Tip: You can get the output protection removed MP3 music folder by clicking the "Folder" button after the whole process.

TuneClone to convert DRM protected Napster music to iTunes MP3 for iPod

2. Create a new playlist in Napster

Under "My Playlist", click the "New Playlist" button to create a new playlist. Drag and drop to the playlist the music you are going to burn from your Napster Library.

Transfer Napster playlist to iPod

3. Make CD burning settings in Napster

Click "Tools", and select "Preference..." from the drop-down list. In the left panel of "Options", navigate to "CD Options". In the right panel of "CD Options", choose TuneClone virtual CD drive as the preferred CD burner.

TuneClone to remove DRM and convert Napster music to iPod

Note: Please tick "Burn CD Text" to preserve the metadata of the music.

4. Start to burn

Click the "Burn Disk" button to start the burning and encoding process.

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

TuneClone to remove Napster DRM for iPod

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

After you get the output MP3 files converted from the Napster music playlist in your Napster, you can now begin to transfer the MP3 files to your iPod with the sync of iTunes.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Review on TuneClone Audio Converter

There is an in-depth review of TuneClone Audio Converter software. The author gives an average score of 4.5 out of 5.



So what do you think of this review? Is it fair and honest? Now let's take a look at the highlights of this review:

iTunes has invaded pretty much all musical use on the computer anymore, people who don't really know much about computers hear about iTunes and assume that's what they're supposed to use for their music on their computers. Case in point, a friend of mine does not own an iPod, but yet he and his girlfriend used iTunes to transfer all of his music over to his computer and it's kinda stuck there now. Well he'll be the first to admit that he really doesn't know much about computers at all, so seeing as iTunes was so popular that's what they decided to use for his music, of course they didn't ask me anything at all. They transferred over many, many songs, and of course his mp3 player, a Sandisk, can't play them so he was stuck with what to do next. So he called me for help, mind you though, most of his music isn't copy protected/copy righted etc, he's actually a world renowned Waltz or Ballroom Dance instructor, so he's got tons of music he uses for that kind of stuff, and once they spent the hours to put it in his computer via iTunes he was basically stuck, it was either re-do it all through another program, buy an iPod or figure out another way to get his music to his Sandisk player converted to Mp3 format.

So there are a few free versions out there that will help my friend out, but I needed something that was easy to use, very easy to use and I found TuneClone, which is very easy to use so that's what I've got for review today. TuneClone is a program to convert you iTunes or other music services music over to mp3 format, quickly and easily. It essentially creates a virtual CDRW drive on your computer and virtually burns the CD from the main program, iTunes of other and then TuneClone automatically rips it to mp3 format for you, so in a few easy steps you've got music that is easily transferred and played on any device.

Tech Specs, Features or the Basic Info:

Note: The information in this part is from TuneClone homepage, so please go to http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php to get to know about tech specs, features and basic info of TuneClone Audio Converter.

Installation, Testing and Comparison:

TuneClone is a download, so there are no box shots etc, just download and install, very easy to do.

TuneClone setup

There's really not much to do on the end user part of this program, most is done automatically. Load up TuneClone and hit the 'Open Media Player' button and your iTunes or whatever will open for you. If you wish you can change the output directory, and other settings like bitrates etc, but for most the default settings are fine.

To use TuneClone you just burn a CD with your program, I'm using iTunes of course, you just have to make sure the destination drive is the TuneClone virtual CD, other than that there's nothing else to change really.

As soon as you hit burn, your CD will start to burn virtually and then TuneClone goes to work converting the files to MP3 format for you automatically.

That's it, there's really nothing much more to it, very easy to use for even someone who doesn't know much about computers.

Summary and Comments:

TuneClone is a great way to free your music from one of the music services out there, it works well, it works fast and it's very easy to use.

DragonSteelMods gives TuneClone Audio Converter Software a 4.5 out of 5 score.

Pros:

-Easy use
-Fast
-Works well

Cons:

-Expensive

The full review is available at http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10186&Itemid=38

Sunday, November 02, 2008

How to play iTunes protected AAC (M4P) music on PS3?

"Can I play iTunes (that I have stored on my computer) on my PS3? I know I can't just hook up my iPod to it or stream from my PC. I read something about transferring music to USB and then put that flash drive in the PS3, will this work? I want to play my iTunes on my home theater but I have no other way than to play it through my PS3. I have a yamaha 5990 receiver and it is not iPod compatible. Any options here? Thanks in advance."

As the music in iTunes is encrypted with DRM, you cannot directly transfer it to your PS3. The easiest way is to burn the music to an audio CD and then rip it back to Windows Media Player or a similar program as an MP3.

Or you can get some software to help you. TuneClone is a pretty good program to get the iTunes protected AAC (M4P) music burned to MP3.



And this page demonstrates how to remove DRM from iTunes music and convert iTunes DRM protected AAC (M4P) music to MP3 for Sony PlayStation 3(PS3) using these two methods:

1. Burn an audio CD and rip it back to MP3
2. TuneClone

And below is the tutorial page:
http://www.tuneclone.com/how-to-import-itunes-music-to-playstation3.php

So now you can listen to iTunes music while playing games with your PS3.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

How to convert protected WMA to MP3 for iPod

"The majority of my albums are in my Windows Media Player and I would like to transfer those albums to my iPod. Now I don't know how to. All I know is that WMA is not compatible with Apple iPod. So how do I rescue my songs? I tried to use limewire to download free music but it is a mess."
If you meet the same problem, you got the right place! The following tutorial details how to put both protected and unprotected WMA (Windows Media Audio) music files to iPod.

If the WMA files you are going to play on your iPod is unprotected, you just select and drag them into iTunes Library and they should be automatically converted to whatever iPod format you selected in iTunes preferences for importing.

If they are WMA files protected by DRM, it is not that easy. You need to use some software to strip the DRM off your WMA files and then convert the WMA files to the much more widely-supported MP3 format.
Note: As with any transcoding, the quality will go down. But if you've got a lot of protected WMA files you'd like to get on your iPod, this solution would do the trick.

In this tutorial, I'd like to show how to remove DRM from WMA files and convert the WMA files to MP3 format using TuneClone Audio Converter. Let’s take a look at how it performs:

1. Settings at TuneClone

Convert WMA to iPod with TuneClone

Download TuneClone (fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista) and install it. After launching TuneClone, click the Settings button. In the pop-up dialog of Options, you can specify the Output Folder, Output Filenames, Output Format (here we choose MP3), etc. for the output files.
Tip: You can get the output protection removed MP3 music folder by clicking the Folder button after the whole process.

2. Burning at Windows Media Player(WMP 11)

Create a new playlist and drag into it the WMA files you are going to enjoy on your iPod. After that, click the Burn button and select Audio CD from the drop-down list. On the right panel of CD Drive, click Next Drive to locate the CD drive to TuneClone's Virtual CD Burner.

Convert WMA to MP3 for Apple iPod

Note: If you are unsure whether TuneClone's Virtual CD burner is successfully installed or where it is installed, please refer to the bottom left corner of TuneClone:

Convert WMA to MP3 for iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic

Then, drag the playlist you created just now to the Burn List and click the Start Burn button to start burning the playlist. While the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the WMA playlist to MP3 files. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.
Note: If you get the output files formatted as 01-1.mp3, 01-2.mp3, etc., please click the output MP3 songs in the manager screen and drag the counterpart original WMA songs to the Track Info panel of TuneClone one by one. The information about the artist, album, title, etc. will be changed accordingly. It would be a time-consuming process if you are burning a big collection of music. However, since Windows Media Player 11 doesn't support CD-text burning, this seems to be the only way to get the information back.

WMA to iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod classic

After you get the output MP3 files converted from the WMA playlist in your Windows Media Player, you can now begin to transfer the MP3 files to your iPod with the sync of iTunes.

Friday, September 26, 2008

How to Convert iTunes 8 M4P to MP3

More than two months ago, I wrote a tutorial entitled How to Convert iTunes M4P to MP3. In that post, I introduced the way to convert iTunes M4P (protected AAC) music to MP3: using TuneClone. With the release of Apple genius iTunes 8, this way of converting iTunes M4P (protected AAC) music to MP3 with TuneClone isn't applicable, as there's some difference between iTunes 8 and its previous version. So, I'd like to post the step by step tutorial about how to convert iTunes 8 protected AAC or say M4P music to MP3 with TuneClone below:

1. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe and install it.

TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. A virtual CD burner will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.

2. Make settings in TuneClone

Convert M4P to MP3

Click the "Settings" button at TuneClone. In the pop-up window, you can specify the "output folder", "output filenames", "output format", etc. for the output files.

Note: Apart from MP3, TuneClone also allows you to convert iTunes M4P to WAV and unprotected WMA.
Tip: You can get the output protection removed music folder by clicking the "Folder" button after the whole process.

3. Make settings at iTunes

Create a playlist, and then add the files you want to convert into the playlist.

convert iTunes to MP3

After you have created the playlist ready to be burnt, click the "Burn Disc" in the bottom right of iTunes.

In the pop up window of "Burn Settings", make the settings as highlighted below:

convert M4P to MP3

4. Start to burn

Click the "Burn" button to start burning.

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3, WMA or WAV. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

M4P converter

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Remove iTunes DRM on Windows & Mac

There are many ways to remove DRM protection from iTunes music. On Windows OS, you can remove the DRM from iTunes music using the burn-and-rip method or you can turn to programs like TuneClone and DoubleTwist. On Mac OS X, iMovie is the perfect solution to removing DRM from iTunes music. Besides, freewares like FairGame is also a pretty good choice. So this article is dedicated to introducing several methods of removing the nasty DRM from iTunes music on Windows and Mac OS X. It is divided into the following four parts:

Part 1. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Windows with burn-and-rip method
Part 2. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Windows with TuneClone
Part 3. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Mac OS X with iMovie
Part 4. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Mac OS X with FairGame


Part 1. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Windows with burn-and-rip method

A. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You'd better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
B. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the "MP3 CD" option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
C. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes or Windows Media Player to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

Part 2. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Windows with TuneClone

A. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com/ and install it.

TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. A virtual CD burner will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.

B. Set the default CD burner to TuneClone virtual CD-RW at iTunes.

Click menu "Edit", select menu item "Preferences...", and then select "Advanced Tab". In order to keep the music information about artist, title, etc., the "Include CD Text" option should be checked.
Note: If you are using iTunes 8.0 or above, please skip to this guide about how to remove DRM from iTunes 8 music.

Remove iTunes DRM with TuneClone

C. Create a playlist, and then add the files you want to convert into the playlist.

D. Click "Burn Disc" button at the bottom right of the main screen of iTunes.

While the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3, WMA or WAV. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

The most important step is to choose the cd burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

Part 3. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Mac OS X with iMovie

remove iTunes DRM on Mac with iMovie

In the iMovie window, select the 'Media' tab located between 'Themes' and 'Editing'. You will notice that the top right portion of the interface now offers a media browser. Select the 'Audio' tab and locate the playlist which contains purchased music, or search by artist/title.

remove iTunes DRM with imovie

remove iTunes DRM on Mac OS X with iMovie

Select the DRM-laden song and drag the file from the media browser into the iMovie timeline where it says "Drag audio here to build your project."

remove DRM from iTunes on Mac with iMovie

In order to export the song, iMovie requires that a visual image be associated with the audio track - iMovie thinks that it is going to be exporting a movie. Simply drag a blank image (or any other image) to the track above the previously imported audio file. Once iMovie has processed the image, select the 'Share…' sub menu item from found inside 'Share' in iMovie's menu bar.

remove iTunes DRM on Mac OS X with iMovie

Ensure that 'Expert Settings' is selected in the "Compress movie for:" drop-down menu. Selecting 'Expert Settings' mode will provide the options to export the file as an audio file. Select the 'Share' button.

In the Save as… dialogue, select "Sound to AIFF" in the Export drop-down menu, Choose an appropriate directory for iMovie to export to, title the file, and select 'Save'. Depending on your machine configuration, iMovie will compress and export the movie project as an audio file in 15-40 seconds.

remove iTunes DRM on Mac with iMovie

Locate the exported AIFF audio file and drag to your iTunes Library. Right-click on the file and select "Convert Selection to AAC". Once completed, 'Get Info' on the new file, edit meta data, add album art, and trash the originally purchased and AIFF audio files from your iTunes library.

Part 4. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Mac OS X with FairGame

FairGame is freeware to remove DRM protection from iTunes music on Mac OS X. It will convert the DRMed songs you bought on the iTunes Store to an unprotected format (using iTunes default encoder) and keep all the original metadata, lyrics and artwork. FairGame doesn't do lossless DRM stripping. It re-encodes protected AAC files purchased in iTMS into unprotected AAC file using Apple's iMovie software.

Remove iTunes DRM on Mac with FairGame

What you MUST DO (only once) to get FairGame to work:

  • Enable "Access for assistive devices" in the "Universal Access" system preference

  • Select "Place clip in Movie Timeline" in the "Import" preference of iMovie HD


Then you can simply:

  • Select some songs in iTunes

  • Click on the "Process songs" button


Don't touch anything and wait until it's done...(FairGame is scripting iMovie's interface to process the songs, don't interfere)

Sunday, September 07, 2008

TuneClone V1.20 Free Download

TuneClone V1.20 was released on September 3, 2008!

Free download TuneClone V1.20

TuneClone V1.20 is a powerful DRM cracker and music converter for unlocking iTunes DRMed M4P music and protected WMA music and converting M4P, M4A, M4B, WMA to MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA.

TuneClone V1.20 allows you to remove DRM protection from purchased music files by applying the virtual CD burning technology. It strips the DRM from protected iTunes M4P or protected WMA so as to help you enjoy DRM-laden music on media players or MP3 players like Microsoft Zune, Sony PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zen, iriver, SanDisk Sansa, Sony Walkman, Cell Phone (Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia N-series, Samsung Anycall, LG, etc.) Pocket PC, PDA and so on.

TuneClone V1.20 also lets you virtually burn music files with media player software like iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, WinAMP, Rhapsody, Napster, etc.

Key features of TuneClone V1.20: http://www.tuneclone.com/

1. TuneClone V1.20 is easy to install and easy to use via a simple user interface.

2. TuneClone V1.20 converts DRM protected music to MP3, WAV and unprotected WMA at very high speed with very nice CD quality.

3. TuneClone V1.20 easily and quickly removes DRM from purchased music files by applying the virtual CD burning technology. Compared with using real CD-R or CD-RW disc, the virtual CD burning uses the maximum writing speed so that your music files can be converted at a very high speed.

4. TuneClone V1.20 supports converting protected music for playback on all kinds of music players like Zune, PSP, BlackBerry, Creative Zen, iriver, Walkman, etc.

5. TuneClone V1.20 enables you to virtually burn music files with iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, WinAMP, Rhapsody, Napster, etc.

6. TuneClone V1.20 is specially designed for batch converting large song collections.

7. TuneClone V1.20 well preserves ID3 tags for artist, album, title names, artworks, etc.

8. With TuneClone V1.20, the converted songs will have no DRM restriction any more.

Availability

More information about TuneClone V1.20 is available at http://www.tuneclone.com. You can free download TuneClone V1.20 via http://www.tuneclone.com/tuneclone_setup.exe for a try. The full version of TuneClone V1.20 costs USD 34.95. If you have questions about or show interest in TuneClone V1.20, please feel free to contact its support team via support@tuneclone.com

Monday, September 01, 2008

How to Transfer iTunes M4P to BlackBerry Storm

One of the great new features I am starting to enjoy on my BlackBerry Storm is the ability for it to play multimedia files and specifically audio (music).

And below are the formats supported by BlackBerry Storm:

Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264, WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMA ProPlus

However, I bet there are not a few people who'd like to enjoy music songs from iTunes on their BlackBerry Storm. What frustrates them most is the fact that the iTunes tracks they purchased or downloaded from iTunes Store are in a "protected" AAC or M4P audio format and they are unable to play them beyond iTunes environment. The DRM-ed iTunes music songs are not recognized by BlackBerry Storm at all.

Don't give up, anyway! The posts I previously wrote How to convert iTunes M4P to MP3 with TuneClone and How to Convert iTunes M4P to MP3 are right there helping you to get rid of the headache. You can choose either the burn-and-rip method or that of using TuneClone Audio Converter elaborated in the posts.

After you get the output MP3 files (actually you can also output M4P to WAV), you can now begin to transfer them to your BlackBerry Storm:

1. Connect your Blackberry to you computer via the USB cable.
2. If you have properly enabled your Blackberry as a Mass Storage Device, your Blackberry's microSD card will show as a removable drive on your computer. For this guide, it happens to be on "Removable Disk" G:. Double-Click.
3. Double-click on the Blackberry folder
4. Double-click on the music folder
5. The folder should be empty.
6. Copy your music files to your Blackberry. Depending on the size, transfer time may vary.
7. Disconnect your Blackberry from the USB cable and go to the Multimedia icon on you Blackberry. You need to disconnect when you use the Mass Storage device method as it disables direct access from the Blackberry when connected to the PC via the USB cable.
8. Click on the Music icon.
9. Click on the Media Card folder
10. Select your Music folder
11. Select your Song
12. Play your music and enjoy!

Done.

Monday, August 18, 2008

How to transfer iTunes M4P to PSP

It is no doubt PSP is a great game player. But it is also a very good entertainment device which can be used for playing music. Assume you have some songs on your iTunes and are trying to figure out how to put them on your PSP. You copy and paste them in the PSP music folder, however, the PSP doesn't recognize the songs as music at all. So what's wrong? Don't worry! This guide will help you out of the trouble.

The music downloaded from iTunes is under DRM protection. In order to play it on your PSP, you need to strip the DRM off and have the iTunes M4P M4A converted to PSP MP3 format. You can burn the protected M4P music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to PSP MP3. Also iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You'd better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
2. Create a new playlist in iTunes. Add the protected songs to your playlist until you have 72 minutes of music. Click Edit and select Preferences. Select the Advanced tab. Tick the Audio CD option on the Burning tab. Click the Burn Disc button to make an audio CD.
Note: You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes or Windows Media Player to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

Convert iTunes to PSP

Sounds a good idea! But it would be a time consuming process if you have a library of iTunes M4P music files ready to be converted to PSP MP3 for playback on your PSP. And it is a waste of CD discs. Moreover, the information about the M4P music files like title, artist and album will be lost after burning and ripping back to MP3 or WMA files. So this method is not recommended if you have a big collection of iTunes M4P music files ready to be transferred to your PSP.

Here, I would recommend using TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter to convert iTunes M4P to PSP MP3. It applys the virtual CD burning technology to simulates the burning and ripping process. You just need to burn the iTunes M4P playlist to TuneClone virtual CD burner. Then TuneClone will directly convert the iTunes M4P music list to PSP MP3 for you. It is very fast and the information about each music song will be preserved perfectly. You can follow its the step by step tutorial to learn how to convert iTunes DRM protected M4P music to MP3 for PSP.

Convert iTunes M4P to MP3 for PSP

After getting the output MP3 files by adopting either the burn-and-rip method or the way of using TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter, now you can begin to transfer the MP3 files to your PSP:

1) Connect the PSP to your PC with a USB cable.
2) Press the "home" button on the PSP (it's a tiny button to the lower left of the screen) then use the left-right directional buttons to find "Settings", then the up-down buttons to find "USB Connection" on the PSP.
3) Press the "X" button (you got it, the round button with the "X" on it) and your PSP should display "USB Connection".
4) In a moment or two your computer should tell you that a new USB device has been connected, then show you a new generic hard drive, usually E: or F:
5) Click on the drive letter that corresponds to the PSP unit.
6) Now create a new folder on that drive and name it "psp".
7) Within the new "psp" folder create another folder, and name it "music".
8) Copy your desired mp3 files into the new "music" folder.
9) When you're done copying your desired music tracks, press the "O" button on the PSP to get out of USB connect mode.

Now you're ready to go! Use the left-right arrows to move to the music area, then the up-down arrows to find "Memory Stick". Choose that folder by pressing the "X" button again, and you should be able to find all your favorite music!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

How to burn WinAMP music to MP3 with TuneClone

TuneClone is a unique audio converter application. Compared with other audio converters, TuneClone converts music files via a virtual CD drive. All you need to do is burn your playlist to TuneClone's virtual CD drive by using your media player programs, such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, WinAMP, etc. The key step to use TuneClone is to select TuneClone's virtual CD-RW drive as CD burner. Your music files will be automatically converted during the burning and encoding process.

Below are the detailed tutorial about how to burn WinAMPmusic to TuneClone's virtual CD drive:

1. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php and install it.

TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. A virtual CD drive will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.

2. Set Burn option at WinAMP.

Launch WinAMP. From the items below "Media Library" button, select TuneClone's Virtual CD burner.

burn WinAMP music to MP3 with TuneClone

3. Add files to the burn list.

After you correctly select the TuneClone's virtual CD driver as CD burner, click the "Add" button to add music files, folder or the current playlist to the burn list.

burn WinAMP music to MP3 with TuneClone

4. Start burning.

Click the "Burn" button to start burning the music files.

burn WinAMP music to MP3 with TuneClone

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

burn WinAMP music to MP3 with TuneClone

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

How to Convert iTunes M4P to MP3 WMA WAV for Windows Movie Maker

Many people are fond of making slideshows on their Windows Movie Maker, however, it won't let them import any purchased music as it is DRM protected. Since iTunes store tops the music retailer in the world, the following tutorial focuses on how to convert purchased iTunes M4P music to MP3, WAV or unprotected WMA so as to import it to Windows Movie Maker project as background music. The tutorial is composed of the following three parts:

Part 1. Something about Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is a totally free program that comes with Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista. Below are the audio/video formats accepted by Windows Movie Maker:

Video files: .asf, .avi, .wmv
Movie files: MPEG1, .mpeg, .mpg, .mlv, .mp2
Audio files: .wav, .snd, .au, .aif, .aifc, .aiff
Windows media files: .asf, .wm, .wma, .wmv
MP3 format audio: .mp3

iTunes M4P to Windows Movie Maker

Part 2. Remove DRM from M4P music

The songs you purchased from iTunes store are under DRM protection. You cannot directly import them to your Windows Movie Maker project. However you can burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. And iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You'd better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

The steps are very simple indeed. Yet, I'd like to introduce a practical application called TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter. It applies the virtual CD burning technology so that there is no need to use real disc. You can use it to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. This is a useful tool for anyone looking to break their relationship with the iPod. The best part is that it maintains all of the music file's metadata. Wordpress has a little tutorial showing how to remove DRM from iTunes M4P music with TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter.

TuneClone Converts M4P to MP3 for Windows Movie Maker

Part 3. Add the output DRM-free music to Windows Movie Maker

After you get the output DRM-free music by adopting either the disc burning/ripping method or virtual CD burning method discussed in Part 2, now you can begin to import it into your Windows Movie Maker project.

Click on "File". Then click on "Import". A window will appear. In the window, navigate to the sound or music file you want to add to your movie. Then double click on the file. You'll see the icon for the file in your Windows Movie Maker "Collections". Click on the icon and drag it on to the timeline to the part of the video you want the sound or music to play.

import iTunes to Windows Movie Maker

Thursday, August 07, 2008

How to Free Create Custom Ringtones for iPhone 3G

Create free ringtones for your iPhone using only iTunes and songs you already have on your computer (This method only works with songs that are DRM free. To create ringtones using DRM protected songs please follow this guide to strip the DRM off first). This method has been tested and works with iTunes 7.7.1 and iPhone 2.0.1 firmware.

To create custom ringtones using only iTunes:

Step 1. Right click on the song you are going to make into a ringer and select "Get Info".

Step 2. Go to the options tab and go down to the "Start Time" and "Stop Time" check boxes. Check both boxes and input the time you want your ringer to start/stop. The ringer has to be 30 seconds or less. Click OK when you're done.

Step 3. Right click on your newly "clipped" song and select "Convert Selection to AAC". The song will be re-encoded using the start and stop times determined (If your menu item does not read "Convert Selection to AAC" and reads "Convert Slection to MP3" (or some other format) please go to "iTunes -> Preferences... -> Advanced -> Importing" and change the "Import Using" drop down menu to "AAC Encoder").

create free ringtones for iPhone 3G

Step 4. After the song is done encoding navigate to your iTunes Music folder, locate your song, and drag it to your desktop. After the song is on your desktop go back to iTunes and delete the clipped version from you iTunes library (It won't delete it from your desktop, it will only remove it from iTunes).

Step 5. Go back the song on your desktop and right click on your song and choose "Properties". Go to the name and extension section and change the extension from .m4a to .m4r (or you can just change the extension right from your desktop).

Step 6. After the extension is changed simply double click on the file to add it to your iTunes library under the ringtones section. Sync your phone with iTunes and you're done!

Note: Remember to go back into iTunes and uncheck your custom start and stop times for the original version of your song.

Source from: http://itunesm4ptomp3.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/free-custom-ringtones-for-iphone-3g-using-only-itunes/

Monday, August 04, 2008

How to Convert iTunes M4P Music to Zune WMA MP3

You are considering buying a Zune as you broke your iPod or had your iPod stolen. And you bought a lot of songs from iTunes store because you had money left on your iTunes gift card. You still want to enjoy those purchased songs on your Zune music player. Or you own an iPod while your boyfriend/girlfriend has a Zune. You hope to share the M4P music purchased from iTunes store under your account with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Here comes the headache! The M4P music you bought from iTunes is DRM-laden! You cannot transfer the M4P music to the Zune software, not to mention play the M4P music on your Zune music player.

Yet, there seems to be a solution. You can burn the protected M4P music to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to rip the audio CD track back to Zune accepted MP3 or WMA format. iTunes allows you to burn protected AAC (M4P) music to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD. Sounds a good idea! But it would be a time consuming process if you have a library of iTunes M4P files ready to be converted to Zune MP3 or WMA. Moreover, the ID3 tags about the M4P music like title, artist and album will be missing after burning and ripping back to MP3 or WMA files. So this method is not recommended if you have a big collection of iTunes M4P files ready to be transferred to your Zune.

I've made a Google search for programs that can convert iTunes M4P to Zune WMA or MP3, and TuneClone Audio Converter attracted my attention. The edge of TuneClone over other similar programs is that it applys the virtual CD burning tech to simulates the burning and ripping process. You just need to burn the iTunes M4P playlist to TuneClone virtual CD drive. TuneClone will directly convert the iTunes M4P music list to Zune WMA or MP3. It is very fast and the music metadata will be well preserved. Below are several key steps to convert iTunes M4P music to Zune MP3 or WMA using TuneClone Audio Converter.

1. Make settings at TuneClone

iTunes M4P to Zune WMA MP3

Click the "Settings" button at TuneClone. In the pop-up window, you can specify the output folder, output filenames, output format, etc. for the converted MP3 or WMA files.

Tip: You can get the converted music folder by clicking the "Folder" button after the whole process.

2. Make settings at iTunes

iTunes M4P to Zune WMA MP3 Converter

Click "Edit -> Preferences... -> Advanced -> Burning". Select TuneClone's virtual CD-RW drive as CD burner. In the "Disc Format" option, tick "Audio CD".

Tip 1: In order to keep the ID3 tags about the music, the "Include CD Text" option should be checked.
Tip 2: The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically.

3. Create a playlist

Create a playlist, and then add the iTunes M4P music files you want to convert to Zune WMA or MP3 into the playlist. After the conversion, the WMA or MP3 music folder should be located under the folder you specified at first. The name of the music folder should be the same as that of the iTunes playlist you created.

Tip: It is exceedingly easy and fast when you want to batch convert lots of files.

After you get the output folder, now you can transfer it to your Zune software so as to enjoy the iTunes music on your Zune music player.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

How to burn RealPlayer music to MP3 with TuneClone

TuneClone Audio Converter is a unique audio converter application. Compared with other audio converter programs, TuneClone converts music files via virtual CD drive. All you need to do is burn your playlist to TuneClone's virtual CD drive by using your media player software, such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, WinAMP, Napster, Rhapsody, etc. The key step to use TuneClone is to select TuneClone's virtual CD-RW drive as CD burner. Your music files will be automatically converted during the burning and encoding process.

Below are the detailed tutorial about how to burn RealPlayer music to MP3 using TuneClone's virtual CD burner:

1. Download TuneClone from http://www.tuneclone.com/index.php and install it.

TuneClone is fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista. A virtual CD burner will be installed. This virtual CD-RW will be used to convert music files.

2. Launch RealPlayer and Click the "Burn/Transfer" button. Change the "Current Burner/Device" to "Audio CD Burner".

convert RM to MP3 with TuneClone

Click the "Edit Options..." button and you will see the dialogue window below:

convert RealPlayer music to MP3 with TuneClone

Click the "Advanced Options..." button. In the following dialogue window, change the default CD burner to "TuneClon Virtual_CD-RW".

burn RealPlayer music to MP3

Step 4. Start burning

Back to the main screen, add music files to the list and click "Burn Your CD" button.

After the burning gets started, TuneClone will automatically convert the music file to MP3. You can open the manager screen to show all the converted music files.

convert RM to MP3

The most important step is to choose the CD burner. Then the software can convert the music files automatically. It is exceedingly easy when you want to batch convert lots of files.