iTunes Completely DRM-Free

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

i know what id3 tags are and so does sabre

two questions: (not sarcastic)

1. did i say you didnt know what Id3 tags are? where did you even get that anyway?

2. where in my above post did you see the word 'sabre' or anything referring to him or his post?

 

 

 

your inability to organize your music doesn't mean everyone else has the same problem.

aaaand you still cant see my point.

 

its not the condition of my library, the point is the easiness of having a pirated library organized to the largest music database on earth because it is now even easier to steal such music because apple has thrown out drm on itunes.

[Vaelastraz]

its not the condition of my library, the point is the easiness of having a pirated library organized to the largest music database on earth because it is now even easier to steal such music because apple has thrown out drm on itunes.

 

Apparently some people know how to organize music without relying on itunes.

[EnderWiggin]

And @satanjesuswhatever - you're the one trying to prove a completely sophistic point.

 

Oh, and right-click isn't 'tedious.' kthx.

 

_EW_

[Adavardes]

This can only mean easier transitions to new operating software for individuals who don't pirate their music, the quality of pirated music as compared to legally purchased music aside. It's essentially about being less of a hassle for those that plan to upgrade their computer software in the near, or even distant, future. I will say that the "one-time charge" is a soulless marketing ploy to make money off of something that should have been put in place from the very beginning, but, then again, Apple isn't exactly known for being a generous, benevolent business.

 

At any rate, I think this is a good thing. Ending up with a faulty music library is due to apathy in lieu of editing your song information when you get the song.

[Darth Avlectus]

I'm very glad you brought this up Edner. This does partially affect me since I do some occasional DJing.

 

Not sure how this might affect the professional DJs. Considering most of what my father and I have is bought or professionally custom made, or a periodical subscription (CDs bought and shipped by mail)...well, that kills 2 or 3 birds with one stone. Plus little to worry about.

 

While I have some of the same problems j.i.g.o.s mentioned...iTunes (when it's on a mac) actually has been a tremendous help to me for neatening up. (On a PC, forget about it, microsoft hates apple and is making iTunes all ****'erd up for vista).

 

I would rather do it honorably where $$$ and making a living is involved.

Emergency requests? ....

I do imagine, though, if it were all going to be digital and pay-per download, paying or by some legit means of free would be best.

 

------

Have a lotta hot? Too lazy to edit it all at once? I'd say archive it and then...get a new hard drive. Then change it all in private at your leisure.

(No Achillies, you are not the only one to archive--very smart of you. Yours truly has done some DJing and in this age archiving is more necessity than ever, now. Regardless of situation)

 

Still it begs the question. How much editing time is actually worth it to avoid small costs? I guess this is asking to equate time used for money saved. Where it is only leisure, I suppose it is totally worth it. Where you must turn up a profit...not a good idea for the majority of it to be freebie downloads. Not that clients care--if you have it they're happy...no I'm talking about the sharks in suits who watch out for this stuff.

 

If one really likes it and its artist...pay for it.

[Sabretooth]

Tags are tags, you can edit them in like two seconds. And at least 90% of the music I download is well-labelled on its tags. And if not, my music player does a good job of autotagging based on filename. At most the genre tags are different, but that's because everybody has a different idea of genres. I tried to organize my collection by genre once but it was too difficult to choose one genre for many songs, so I just decided to let those genre fields be. >:[

[Darth Avlectus]

So then...what? I'm coming from a semi professional point of view with counterparts fully professional..... All other things (paying the honorable way, cds, etc. etc.) aside...I'm just trying to figure out how does this significantly affect me? What significant changes will I be seeing in the future? Or is this, respectively, irrelevant?

 

I thought less security measures lead to piracy since there is nothing stopping them, but obviously one counter measure just leads to another measure to avoid paying $$$.

 

I don't go in intending to defrauding anybody. Try to be on top of things so there is no surprise or emergency.

 

Formats will have to change from CD behemoth tech (though nothing compared to vacuum tube amps still in use even today) to computerized/mp3player/digital/port'a'drive so I imagine I'll have to do more pay>download

(...and then put into hard copy for archive in case something gets botched.)

 

 

What does this basically do for guys like my father, me, and my buddies? Sounds like $$$ are going up and security going down.

 

(Security which apparently is now just $ hassle vs tag hassle, instead of effective)

 

'Course no matter how neat it all is, there eventually is a necessity for organizing ang tagging anyway for some number of it.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

thinking of this again, im coming to the conclusion that the doctor was right:

... you clearly have no idea how to use iTunes, by the looks of it

now then, i mostly use windows media player, because im on vista and itunes is incredibly slow on it. i use itunes to sync the music to my ipods.

 

wmp has a 'find album info' function. you right click a song, and go 'find album info'. it searches for the song's info based on the title, and you choose the best match.

afaik, itunes doesnt have this kind of feature. it gets the song info from gracenote when you rip a cd, but it doesnt if you import already ripped music. (i rip with wmp)

afaik, the only way to get the correct info for a song like that is to right click>get info> edit tags manually.

 

sure, editing tags manually would be fast, but its not the editing itself thats the problem. you have to hop on the net, go and find all the tag info yourself, then put it in. and if you have many songs you want to have perfect tag info for, your'e nuts if you dont think thats tedious.

(i mean, how long would that take for like, 50 songs?

 

so i have a question: does itunes have an auto info finder feature like wmp?

because i cant find it. 'get info' doesnt actually let you 'get the info'. (it shouldnt be called 'get info', but just 'info'.)

 

if someone could tell me if there is a feature like this is there in itunes, my point would be properly defeated. (which is what should have been done, rather than make me out as an idiot)

the point can be attributed as my mistake.

 

At most the genre tags are different, but that's because everybody has a different idea of genres. I tried to organize my collection by genre once but it was too difficult to choose one genre for many songs, so I just decided to let those genre fields be.

and that is one of the major things i want to resolve. because messed up genre tags defeat the purpose of 'browse by genre' features on music players and ipods. the solution would be to rely on one standard of genre classification - gracenote. (its also the solution for all other disorganized tag info) and to do that, youd have to get the info from them, and that comes around to my problem.

 

Anyways, this is 2008.

um, its 2009, but its ok.

Like I said before, I don't think I've encountered messed up tags since 2000.

er... you dont consider disorganized genre tags as tags?

[Darth Avlectus]

Use the safari browser, yo. It is apple based.

 

Itunes probably does somehow, someway. Haven't cared enough to try to find it though. I don't really trust windows' apps due to backdoors in the programs hacker buddies of mine have found through the years. Used to use sonicsound, sonicdisc, or rhapsody or something like that which came along with the sony vaio stuff in 2003. There are any number of things like that.

 

I swear as an ultimate middle finger to microsoft, though, I will defeat the hostility harbored within my PC!!!

 

In my experience, if there are no tags it is blank or has a bunch of weird characters.Some are unchangable, too. Probably ones to be gotten rid of come to think of it.

[EnderWiggin]

now then, i mostly use windows media player, because im on vista and itunes is incredibly slow on it. i use itunes to sync the music to my ipods.

 

There's your problem.

 

wmp has a 'find album info' function. you right click a song, and go 'find album info'. it searches for the song's info based on the title, and you choose the best match.

afaik, itunes doesnt have this kind of feature. it gets the song info from gracenote when you rip a cd, but it doesnt if you import already ripped music. (i rip with wmp)

 

Actually, I think if you click Advanced>Get CD Track Names, it does just what you're thinking of. Of course, I can't be sure, because I just rip the music into iTunes like a normal person, so it does it automatically. I've only had to use that button like once and now I don't remember how it works.

afaik, the only way to get the correct info for a song like that is to right click>get info> edit tags manually.

 

See above.

so i have a question: does itunes have an auto info finder feature like wmp?

because i cant find it. 'get info' doesnt actually let you 'get the info'. (it shouldnt be called 'get info', but just 'info'.)

 

See above.

if someone could tell me if there is a feature like this is there in itunes, my point would be properly defeated. (which is what should have been done, rather than make me out as an idiot)

the point can be attributed as my mistake.

 

You pretty much said the same thing for four paragraphs. See above. Again.

 

And to be honest, if you couldn't click the advanced button, No one deserves to be treated rudely, kthx. --Jae There is an iTunes Help menu, tbh.

 

er... you dont consider disorganized genre tags as tags?

You can't really organize them all that well, since multiple songs could be perceived as multiple genres, albums are not always genre-uniform and bands change genres from album to album (sometimes.)

 

So I think he just doesn't beat himself up over it.

 

_EW_

[Sabretooth]

sure, editing tags manually would be fast, but its not the editing itself thats the problem. you have to hop on the net, go and find all the tag info yourself, then put it in. and if you have many songs you want to have perfect tag info for, your'e nuts if you dont think thats tedious.

(i mean, how long would that take for like, 50 songs?

Well, if I care enough for my music to look it up by tags and nitty-gritty info like year of release, composer, lyricist and whatnot, I'd care enough to go on the Internet, tag it and save it once and for all. If you can't be bothered with looking up artist info and feeding it yourself, the question arises as to why you'd want all that in your IDv3 tags anyways.

 

and that is one of the major things i want to resolve. because messed up genre tags defeat the purpose of 'browse by genre' features on music players and ipods. the solution would be to rely on one standard of genre classification - gracenote. (its also the solution for all other disorganized tag info) and to do that, youd have to get the info from them, and that comes around to my problem.

Well that statement I made was kinda fuzzy but refer to good man Wiggins' response, he got it right. There are many songs that don't fit into a single genre. That is why Last.fm doesn't use genres, but a tag system that is infinitely more flexible.

 

One song in my collection for example, can be classified as Black Metal, Ambient Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Post-Black, Avant-Garde Metal, Avant-Garde Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal and probably even something else. And Wintersun's music defies all genres, the closest possible would be describing it as "Epic Technical Melodic Death Metal" and even that feels vastly inappropriate to the music. What's more, Wintersun's founder denies his music being Melodic Death Metal and goes on to invent what he calls "Epic Technical Majestic Melodic Metal".

 

If you ask me, the whole "genre" system is starting to fail with artists experimenting wildly in different music forms. I don't sort my music by genre in any case, partly because of the reason stated above and partly because I don't see the point. I know which artist plays what sort of music, which is why they are in my collection, duh.

 

um, its 2009, but its ok.

>.>

<.<

 

er... you dont consider disorganized genre tags as tags?

Here I'd like to get clarified what "disorganized genre tags" are you exactly referring to. Incorrect genre labellings? Grammatical errors? No labels?

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Use the safari browser, yo. It is apple based.

yes use safari on windows so you can have a mediocre browser on a platform it wasn't designed to run on but oh well it's apple so that automatically means it's secure

 

Itunes probably does somehow, someway. Haven't cared enough to try to find it though. I don't really trust windows' apps due to backdoors in the programs hacker buddies of mine have found through the years. Used to use sonicsound, sonicdisc, or rhapsody or something like that which came along with the sony vaio stuff in 2003. There are any number of things like that.

heh

[Darth Avlectus]

yes use safari on windows so you can have a mediocre browser on a platform it wasn't designed to run on but oh well it's apple so that automatically means it's secure

 

Hey, if you want to use microsoft internet explorer, be my guest JMAC.

If you have one better, out with it. Otherwise we just disagree and this would be moot.

 

I know safari well enough that it ignores lots that microsoft doesn't. If that means anything about anything. Save for a few finicky problems on youtube it does just fine.

 

Admittedly I'm still on it for firefox and I'm still deciding whether I like chrome or not. Just anything *other* than Microsoft internet explorer. You disagree, that's not my problem.

[The Doctor]

Hey, if you want to use microsoft internet explorer, be my guest JMAC.

If you have one better, out with it. Otherwise we just disagree and this would be moot.

 

Lol.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Actually, I think if you click Advanced>Get CD Track Names, it does just what you're thinking of. Of course, I can't be sure, because I just rip the music into iTunes like a normal person, so it does it automatically. I've only had to use that button like once and now I don't remember how it works.

There is an iTunes Help menu, tbh.

of course ive tried it before. itll only work if you ripped the music using itunes.

You pretty much said the same thing for four paragraphs. See above. Again.

and it was originally one paragraph. i just separated it to make it easier to be read.

Oh. In that case, I agree with your argument

notice there was no hostility in my statement.

have a nice day.

 

One song in my collection for example, can be classified as Black Metal, Ambient Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Post-Black, Avant-Garde Metal, Avant-Garde Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal and probably even something else. And Wintersun's music defies all genres, the closest possible would be describing it as "Epic Technical Melodic Death Metal" and even that feels vastly inappropriate to the music. What's more, Wintersun's founder denies his music being Melodic Death Metal and goes on to invent what he calls "Epic Technical Majestic Melodic Metal".

 

If you ask me, the whole "genre" system is starting to fail with artists experimenting wildly in different music forms. I don't sort my music by genre in any case, partly because of the reason stated above and partly because I don't see the point. I know which artist plays what sort of music, which is why they are in my collection, duh.

point taken

>.>

<.<

as i said to enderwiggin, no hostility intended. just pointing it out, thats all.

Here I'd like to get clarified what "disorganized genre tags" are you exactly referring to. Incorrect genre labellings? Grammatical errors? No labels?

in my experience i have encountered all of those. but i mostly mean incorrect genre labellings and no labels.

 

so heres the thing:

im contemplating getting tuneup: a program that completely cleans your itunes library using gracenote. check it out. it seems to be sweet slavation for just my problem. now, one of the reasons i asked my question is because im wondering if itunes has this functionality built in, and tuneup is just a rip off for technically inept people who dont know that itunes has this very feature built right in. this may surprise you, but im not technically inept. i just asked here because maybe, just maybe im missing this feature on itunes. (like when you look for something, you just cant find it, but its right in front of you).

 

now if tuneup (and other programs that do the same thing) is actually useful, if it's function is actually solving a valid problem,the programs are not a useless ripoff, and the praises hundreds (thousands-?) of people all over the world are singing about it are deserved, then my second argument still stands and i come to this conclusion: "itunes does not have a comprehensive autotagging functionality for non itunes ripped/bought music and i am not an idiot for wanting that function in itunes. "

[Q]

now then, i mostly use windows media player, because im on vista and itunes is incredibly slow on it.

There's your problem.

Agreed. Do yourself a favor and dump the bloatware/spyware sell-you-out-to-the-recording-industry schlock that is WMP. I don't know what anyone else here uses, but I use this for all of my media needs. Once it's configured correctly nothing beats it, IMO.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

on the topic of program prefs:

 

im with gta: i hate IE with a passion.

i havent used safari before. i use firefox3 right now and cant decide about chrome (im staying with ff because i have lifesaving addons that i cant let go of!)

 

I don't know what anyone else here uses, but I use this for all of my media needs. Once it's configured correctly nothing beats it, IMO.

lol, ive been using mpc for ages, but ive never really used it for music listening, as its not too user friendly for that kinda stuff in my experience (i could be wrong) i use mpc and vlc media player for when i come across random file types. motto: if its a weird media filetype, mpc can play it! (well, 90% of the time anyway)

 

another reason im using wmp is because its incredibly easy to manage music on my cell phone (more so than the cell phones actual music software: nokia music manager). just drag, drop, and send via bluetooth! done! (and the UI is far better on wmp rather than nmm)

[Sabretooth]

I'd like to contribute to this thread tangent and say that I like Firefox with a passion and think Chrome is good, but definitely not as good as Firefox. You really can't beat them add-ons.

 

As for media, I user The KMPlayer for media playing. It's got internal codecs for pretty much any format you want (including .swf files) and has an incredibly huge list of options to tune the player and media.

 

For music, I use Teen Spirit, which will be renamed to Jaangle sometime soon. I discovered it not too long ago and fell in love with it: intuitive interface, supreme speed (on my computer, speed is something of an issue >.>), and a great library. For a program that's not hit version 1 yet, I think TS has loads of potential.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

now if tuneup (and other programs that do the same thing) is actually useful, if it's function is actually solving a valid problem,the programs are not a useless ripoff, and the praises hundreds (thousands-?) of people all over the world are singing about it are deserved, then my second argument still stands and i come to this conclusion: "itunes does not have a comprehensive autotagging functionality for non itunes ripped/bought music and i am not an idiot for wanting that function in itunes. "

 

no arguments to this?

[Darth Avlectus]

@general

Broheim...ah. Not a particular fav. genre of mine, punk rock. That's one of my fav. songs, however, by pennymarch on the pennywise album.

 

Peep that y'all.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

No more DRM by the end of March

 

 

its april... anyone know when is this going to happen, exactly? - im hankerin to get some tunes..

[Fiestainabox]

I agree with everything Jmac has said...

 

Agreed. Do yourself a favor and dump the bloatware/spyware sell-you-out-to-the-recording-industry schlock that is WMP. I don't know what anyone else here uses, but I use this for all of my media needs. Once it's configured correctly nothing beats it, IMO.

 

You mean you use VNC Player, you can't actually play anything directly using the K-Lite codec pack...

 

And from what CCCP claims, K-Lite is crap.

 

now if tuneup (and other programs that do the same thing) is actually useful, if it's function is actually solving a valid problem,the programs are not a useless ripoff, and the praises hundreds (thousands-?) of people all over the world are singing about it are deserved, then my second argument still stands and i come to this conclusion: "itunes does not have a comprehensive autotagging functionality for non itunes ripped/bought music and i am not an idiot for wanting that function in itunes. "

 

Unless your retagging your entire 40 gig library your not going to need auto-tagging in iTunes. If you have the physical ability to "Shift+Click" you have the ability to tag an entire CD in under 5 minutes.

 

I know this from mainly because, believe it or not, I actually enjoy tagging my music as much as listening to it.

 

I've used Safari and IE, yeah, to download the Firefox 3.1.

 

I don't like Safari, I've even used it on a Mac, I just plain don't like it.

 

As for Chrome, I've used it, liked it, but found it to unreliable, I've had times when Chrome's told me I've been banned from my school's website, yet works fine in Firefox and IE.

 

 

deleted

 

Those two CD's were BY FAR the worst tagged CD's I've ever downloaded. The only thing I had to change was that "Blood Sex Sugar Magik" had it's artist field tagged as "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" rather than "Red Hot Chili Peppers."

 

I actually own those two CD's, but I still find it easier just to download them. I'm running a Thinkpad, which has a CD drive that not only sounds like a Buzzsaw, but also heats up enough to make you sweat.

Oversharing! --Jae

 

Anyway...

 

I think iTunes has took a step in the right direction by getting rid of DRM. The problem with DRM is you feel like your renting something rather than actually buying it.

 

Sadly, this does nothing for the actual quality of the music artists are pumping out, for every "Mars Volta" and "Wolfmother" theres three "Fallout Boy" (Not to be confused with Vault Boy) and "My Chemical Romance."

 

Mallcore is wrong in every way.

[Jae Onasi]

Allow me to remind everyone of this rule:

1. Illegal material

 

Do not post links to sites that contain illegal material or discuss where to obtain illegal material (ie where to get illegal MP3s, warez, cracks, etc.). Do not post magazine scans and other copyrighted material. This is prohibited.

Discussions about how to perform activities that are illegal in the US are also prohibited.

 

I just cleaned up a ton of old and new illegal discussion. Consider this a warning to everyone who posts here: Any further discussion of illegal downloading will earn you infractions, not warning cards. I also cleaned up a bunch of jerk replies to someone who was simply asking for help. If you're tempted to fire off a sarcastic response to someone instead of helping, here's my "friendly advice" to you: Don't. Either be helpful, or STFU. If you can't STFU, the staff will do it for you, but it'll cost you infraction points for wasting my or another moderator's time editing your post(s). I now return you to your legal discussion.

[Jae Onasi]

its april... anyone know when is this going to happen, exactly? - im hankerin to get some tunes..

You can download music in the regular format or DRM free--it gives you the option from what I could see when I d/l'd an Epica album the other day. You pay more for the DRM-free option.

 

I use PodLift to transfer music to my hard drive. DRM problem gone. It's freeware and it's available from CNet's download.com. Follow the warning about turning automatic sync off if you're using a computer where you don't normally sync your iPod so you don't lose your music.

 

I found this on download.com--I have no idea if it'll do what you want, but this might be what you're looking for with regard to your tags. TagScanner.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

You can download music in the regular format or DRM free--it gives you the option from what I could see when I d/l'd an Epica album the other day. You pay more for the DRM-free option.

 

hmm, according to the itunes message, all of itunes songs are now DRM free, not just the higher priced ones...

 

I use PodLift to transfer music to my hard drive. DRM problem gone.

 

podlift is nifty, but what i want to do is to have itunes music playable on my mobile phone, which is my primary music device. this should be possible with the new drm free purchases off the itunes store, right?

 

I found this on download.com--I have no idea if it'll do what you want, but this might be what you're looking for with regard to your tags. TagScanner.

thanks, ill give it a try.