How to Remove DRM from iTunes AAC M4V M4P in Windows and Mac

[CrayDeng]

ITunes DRM files include AAC, M4V and M4P. If you don’t remove itunes DRM it’s impossible to play them on any Apple incompatible devices, like Zune, Creative Zen, PSP, mobile Phone, etc. This turns out really bad if you want to buy a new mp3 player which is not manufactured by Apple.
So, The way not to delete itunes DRM files, you could try some methods or programs that remove DRM off of the iTunes files. Please note that using programs might be illegal in the country where you are living, make sure you know what you are doing before downloading and using them.


1. Remove iTunes DRM protection using iTunes + CD-R

Follow these 5 steps:
• Create an iTunes playlist containing your purchased songs.
• Insert a blank CD-R or a CD-RW.
• Burn the playlist to disk.
• Re-import the songs after a successful burn.
• Deleting the original purchased tracks.


2. Remove iTunes DRM with DRM software in Windows

One of these program is Daninusoft Media Converter Pro which can remove iTunes DRM with its newest version (2.2.1.0). The reason I list it here is the newest version has modified its two major disadvantages compare with the former one: 1. Be compatible with Vista OS.  2. Supports all iTunes DRM files. And with its other advantages: 1. High conversion speed. 2. Supports many other popular standard video and audio files. 3. Friendly-use interface. It could be a good choice for DRM remove and Media conversion.


 

3. Remove iTunes DRM with Apple software in Leopard

The current iteration of iMovie released with the iLife ‘08 software bundle is iMovie 7.1. However, in order to remove DRM protection, you will need iMovie HD - previously bundled with iLife ‘06. Once downloaded and installed, start iMovie HD and ‘Create a New Project’ titled "DRM-free". Save the project to your Desktop.



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.

[Huupe]

I have Vista x64 so i use Melodycan. This software converts avi (Windows Video), WMV (Windows Media Video) and m4v, mov, aac, ra, aa, mp4, snd, aif, m4p, rax, wav, ogg etc.

MelodyCan can also convert video files of any kinds to commonly used iPod MPEG4 files (MP4) and DivX files (AVI, DIVX) for playback at home video devices. With MelodyCan you are not bound to your PC anymore and can play your movies on almost any device you have. MelodyCan can convert protected Windows Media Video (WMV) files to regular MPEG4 files (mp4) for iPod devices or convert WMV to DivX format for home DVD/DivX players. MelodyCan also can convert protected iTunes video files (M4V) to MPEG4 or DivX.

[tracyjump]

Nice guide, I just wonder if this DRM converter supports WMA files. I have plenty downloaded from Napster and I wanna convert them to mp3 to save my disk space.

[Huupe]

Melodycan feature list:

* Crack drm from WMV files legally and convert to unprotected WMV, MP4 or any video formats you like, such as AVI,

MPEG, MOV etc,
* convert Itunes to MP3 (iTunes M4p music to MP3, WMA),
* convert iTunes movie M4v to WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert M4A to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert M4V to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert AAC to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert WMA to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert M4B to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert AA to MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4,
* Convert M4P to MP3, M4P to WMA,
* Convert Drm-protected M4A, M4B, AA, M4P to MP3, WMA,
* Remove M4V from WMV, M4v to MPEG4 (.mp4),
* Remove Drm AAC, M4p, AA, M4b, WMA, WMV, M4v from MP4, MP3, Wmv, Wma (unprotected files,
* Copy drm protected video,
* Copy protected WMV and M4V videos,
* Remove DRM from WMV, M4V, MP4, WMA, M4P, M4B, AA, AAC,
* Download YouTube videos
* Save YouTube videos
* Convert YouTube video
* Convert YouTube video to AVI
* Convert YouTube video to MP4
* Convert YouTube video to iPod
* Convert YouTube to Zune
* Convert YouTube to Ipod
* Convert WMA to MP3
* Convert M4P to MP3
* Convert iTunes to MP3
* Convert RAX to MP3
* Convert WAV to MP3
* Convert AA to MP3
* Convert to iPod
* Convert WMA to iPod
* Convert iTunes to Zune
* Convert to AAC
* Convert iTunes video
* Convert video to iPod
* Convert video to AVI
* Convert WMV files
* Convert video to MP4
* Convert WMV to AVI
* Convert DivX to MP4
* Convert MOV to MP4
* Convert RM video
* iPod video converter
* Convert DRM protected music
* Convert DRM protected WMA files
* Convert iTunes to MP3 format
* Convert Rhapsody files to MP3
* Unprotect WMA files
* Convert iTunes Videos to MPEG
* Convert protected RAX to MP3
* Remove DRM from WMV files
* Remove DRM audio & video copy protection
* Remove DRM legally
* Rip audio CD to MP3 files
* Rip audio CD to AAC files
* Rip audio CD to WAV files
* Encode audio CD
* Convert audio CD
* Convert music from CD
* Grab CD tracks
* Grab CD music

System Requirements:

Windows® XP x32, Windows® 2003 x32 or Windows® Vista x32
1 GHz processor or faster
256 MB RAM or more
Windows Media® Player 9 or higher installed, which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft®

[terry007]

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 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/

[Huupe]

prefer to use MelodyCan cause:

1. easy to use, only a few clicks to put files into my iPod
2. very fast conversion which saved me lots of time - 50x
3. had a good balance between file size and output video quality

[CrayDeng]

Nice guide, I just wonder if this DRM converter supports WMA files. I have plenty downloaded from Napster and I wanna convert them to mp3 to save my disk space.

As I know , Napster music (WMA) has the DRM protection which avoid customer play or convert the downloaded music with other incompatible devices and if you don't keep paying you can't keep the music when the subscription expired.

So if you want to play the protected music with other incompatible players (like iPod and Zune) and keep the music forever, convert the DRM WMA files to usable MP3 would be a good choice.

[CrayDeng]

I heard that Napster is going to open a DRM-free music store, is that true?

[tracyjump]

Yeah, I heard that a few weeks ago, seems they opened a DRM-free mp3 store.
You can check it on their offical site.
http://home.napster.com/

[jeffmatt]

Nice guide, but I'd prefer using tunebite to convert protected music, my friends recommend it to me, it works pretty well, and here is a step by step guide about how to use it
http://www.top5soft.com/tutorial/how-to-convert-protected-itunes-music-to-mp3-wma-ogg.html

[Huupe]

I have over 1000 rax files. Found out Tunebite doesn`t suport such format

So now I prefer to use Melodycan to convert WMA files (Windows Media Audio) from Napster To Go, Rhapsody and Yahoo Music store; convert M4P to MP3 (MPEG4-AAC Audio) taken from iTunes store; convert RAX files (Real Audio) from Rhapsody; convert ATRAC (Sony's proprietary compressed music formats) purchased from Sony CONNECT Music Store; convert AA audio books from Audible store and a couple of other formats.

[dilibert]

Well, good for you that u have found something for that large no of files.Tunebite works just great for me.Btw, @jeffmatt,interesting that guide u dug up, it might have been pretty handy when I first started using it.Although I think it's for an ooold version of tunebite,vers 3 if I'm not mistaking.It would be nice to find oen for the latest version that's on the market, it has a lot of improvements and it's easier to use.

[CrayDeng]

Thanks, dude, but I prefer the Media Converter Pro

[Huupe]

I use 5 in 1 extremely powerful Melodycan converter.

There is such useful features:

Convert DRM protected Audio & Video

MelodyCan Video Converter

MelodyCan Audio CD Ripper

MelodyCan YouTube Ripper

MelodyCan Audio Converter

Download& Try

[milkyway462]

That's frustrating, they only operated the store for a while, is there any other DRM-free music store online?