New iTunes Is DRM Free But It’s Still Restricted
As Ben Drury of UK download provider 7Digital said in statement today: "Downloads from iTunes are still in the AAC file format regardless of whether they are DRM-free."
7digital, Amazon, Napster, Zune, Rhapsody and all other DRM free retailers sell all downloads in the universal MP3 format which means they work on any iPod, any brand of MP3 player or mobile phone. "The AAC file format is only compatible with iPods/iPhones and a limited number of other devices. So consumers who buy downloads from iTunes are still restricted to where they can play that music regardless of whether it’s DRM free or not,” Drury points out.
Share on:
track loads into itunes. right click>>>convert selection to MP3>>pain in the ass?>> you bet, but doable.
Drury’s not quite right there. He seems to be missing that AAC is a standardised file format. Without the DRM component other software developers and hardware manufacturers are welcome to support it. According to wikipedia, Sony, Nokia and Nintendo have already done just that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding
7Digital is competing with iTunes, and obviously Ben Drury had to say something negative about iTunes today. Fair game. But AAC is supported by many devices. Motorola phones, Sony’s PS3 and PSP consoles, Sony Walkman phones, Nokia’s Nseries, Nintendo’s Wii, Creative Zen players, SanDisk’s Sansa players, etc. Even Microsoft’s Zune plays unprotected AAC files.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding
Ben Drury is just incredibly misinformed. AAC now has almost universal support in mobile devices that can play music, including the PSP, all popular media players for Windows Mobile and Symbian, etc.
The question to meis why do you think Apple insist on using its own format when a truly universal one is available?
AAC is not Apple’s format. It stands for Advanced Audio Coding, it’s part of the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 specifications.
MP3s come with a licensing fee to Franhofer institute for every single download.
Moreover, it’s like saying low-cost mp3 players won’t be so easily playing the iTunes files as the iPod will.
So, dear iTunes customer, keep buying ipods…
AAC and MP3 are both proprietary, and applications employing either one requires the developer/maker to pay a license fee to decode them.
I believe Apple uses AAC because it’s uses a far superior compression algorithm, resulting in higher quality audio at comparable bit rates/file sizes. However, the fact that it is not “universal” is only due to the fact that AAC was late to the format party. It will continue to grow.
The true question is why more major providers do not offer their music in open source file formats that don’t require license fees. Ogg Vorbis is obviously first to come to mind; Flac, as a lossless compression, would be even better.
AACs usually sound better than mp3s, even on this crappy Zune.
That’s right, only all new mobile phones (because this is the de facto standard for streaming and broadcast on phones), all STB and computers support AAC :D. Not very honest from 7Digital
These are portable high end devices which can be used easily. Using these devices we can grab the once mind as their are free but restricted at a area free retailers sell all downloads in the universal MP3 format which means they work on any iPod,