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



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.



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:



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.



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.

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.



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



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.





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."



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.



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.



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.



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)

TuneClone V1.20 Free Download

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



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

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.