Tuesday Tech Tip: Replace your DRM’ed iTunes tracks with open versions
In 2009, Apple finally decided to drop DRM from the iTunes music library. That didn’t help much with songs purchased before that decision, however. Fortunately, if you still have these crippled tracks sitting in your library, there’s an easy way to kill the DRM with a few steps.
It used to be that most digital music was riddled with DRM. Terrified music labels essentially decided we were all thieves and couldn’t be trusted. Because of that paranoia, when the iTunes store launched, all the songs were wrapped in DRM. Basically, if you bought music between 2003 and 2009, these songs are still crippled. Here’s how to set them free.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
In 2009, Apple finally decided to drop DRM from the iTunes music library. That didn’t help much with songs purchased before that decision, however. Fortunately, if you still have these crippled tracks sitting in your library, there’s an easy way to kill the DRM with a few steps.
