Apple DRM %&#!, Is There Any Way Around This

**Jerjo** · 05-06-2015

We have two Apple accounts. One is our original, dating back to the origins of iTunes and it resides on my wife's computer. Lots of my wife's music and just a few albums of mine. The newer one is on my PC and laptop, with most of our music on it. I have read that you cannot combine two Apple accounts on one machine. The iTunes on my computer won't even open those old folders because it's the wrong account. What a bunch of shit. I used to be able to burn CDs off my wife's PC but the drive is going to hell in a hand basket so I can't burn those old albums onto a CD.

Is there any way to get past Apple's insane DRM and get those files converted? I have yet to see anything on the Interwebs but I'm betting one of you has a trick I haven't tried. In the mean time...rot in hell Mr Jobs. It's my music, I paid for it.

**strawberrybrick** · 05-06-2015

Check out this:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201616

Or this:
Another option is to burn" music" CDs and then re-rip MP3 files from those music CDs.

**Spiral** · 05-06-2015

Audacity. Once the file's open you can tag it if need be, export it in whatever format and with whatever bit rate you choose, and it creates a new file without DRM restrictions. (I don't know how to add cover art with Audacity, so it means re-adding covers after, but that's faster when you're doing it for an album at a time anyway.)

**jkelman** · 05-06-2015

Originally Posted by Jerjo

We have two Apple accounts. One is our original, dating back to the origins of iTunes and it resides on my wife's computer. Lots of my wife's music and just a few albums of mine. The newer one is on my PC and laptop, with most of our music on it. I have read that you cannot combine two Apple accounts on one machine. The iTunes on my computer won't even open those old folders because it's the wrong account. What a bunch of shit. I used to be able to burn CDs off my wife's PC but the drive is going to hell in a hand basket so I can't burn those old albums onto a CD.

Is there any way to get past Apple's insane DRM and get those files converted? I have yet to see anything on the Interwebs but I'm betting one of you has a trick I haven't tried. In the mean time...rot in hell Mr Jobs. It's my music, I paid for it.

I'm in the same boat and have talked to apple about it through AppleCare on my Mac. It may be offered in future, but for now, you can log out of one account and into the other to access the info, no?

**rcarlberg** · 05-07-2015

Jerjo, the problem isn't with Apple's "insane DRM" it's with your understanding.

First of all, no Apple iTunes ID resides on any computer. Those are virtual, they exist in Apple's cloud. If you want to put your ID on your wife's computer, or her ID on yours, that s a simple matter of pulling it down from the cloud.

Second, although Apple IDs cannot be merged, they can be shared.

Third, by authorizing content from multiple Apple IDs on a single computer, they can all be used in playlists, burned to CDs, whatever you want. Having different IDs is not a barrier.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204053

**Plasmatopia** · 05-07-2015

In fact, it's so damned user-friendly it's downright confusing!

**spellbound** · 05-07-2015

I just found this, which may or may not be helpful:

http://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/...rary_off_your/

**AZProgger** · 05-07-2015

Apple stopped using DRM around the end of 2008, beginning of 2009. Anything purchased after that time frame can be played on any AAC+ capable device or software, or converted with any conversion software. The way to tell the difference between DRM and non-DRM files is the file extension. If it's .m4p, it's DRM. If it's .m4a, it's non-DRM.

**JKL2000** · 05-07-2015

Is there any way to use Apple products and not get a red-hot poker up the *ss?

**Plasmatopia** · 05-07-2015

Yes, try the Apple forums for a how-to.

**rcarlberg** · 05-08-2015

Originally Posted by JKL2000

Is there any way to use Apple products and not get a red-hot poker up the *ss?

I think you might be using them incorrectly. Although the name is "iPad" it does not go inside your underwear.

**Zeuhlmate** · 05-08-2015

Perhaps.... ?
Convert m4p to m4a

**Mister Triscuits** · 05-08-2015

Originally Posted by JKL2000

Is there any way to use Apple products and not get a red-hot poker up the *ss?

Yes, just don't let your queen consort and her lover capture you when you flee to Wales after being dethroned.

**Jerjo** · 05-08-2015

I finally got the disc drive on that old PC to burn CDs so I just started burning the stuff I wanted to keep (a Pat Travers comp, a Shadow Gallery album, two Echolyn albums, etc.). Then I'm just burning them onto the "good" computer as MP3s. I also made a compilation CD of some single songs called "Steve Jobs is Satan". Who knew it'd be so easy to find artwork that worked with that title?

5arxgn.jpg

**spellbound** · 05-08-2015

Hey, Jerol, is Pat Travers worth seeing? He and his band are playing here later this month. I can't remember what he sounds like.

**Jerjo** · 05-08-2015

From Pat's latest release:

Hard blues rock is his forte - but I haven't any ideas what the live show would be like in terms of volume, presentation etc. I love his playing and his tone but his voice has lost a little. Then again, all of his peers have as well.

Classic Pat: