Santana -All That I Am CD won't import, way around?

Isn't it a little hypocritical to blast the record labels for copy-protecting their CD's and making them incompatible with iTunes when nothing purchased from the iTunes Music Store can be played on anything not made by Apple? You pay for the music from iTMS just as you do when you buy a CD from a store, yet you don't have full control over how it's used from the moment of purchase in either case. Both methods of purchase require workarounds in order to have full control over the music. Just calling a spade a spade.

Rob

Robert, I really don't want to get into an argument, but the DRM on these CD's absolutely deny one your "fair use rights'. In regards to the Santana CD, I would have preferred to purchase the CD so that I could import into iTunes at a higher bitrate for better audio quality than an iTMS purchase. I could not do this because of the copy protection, therefore I had to resort to an iTMS purchase for this album.

I believe the copy protection is just stupid. 1) It won't let us get our music on our beloved iPods. 2)With the "workaround" the label emails, that totally defeats the purpose of the copy protection because the file still becomes unprotected somehow. 3) More people are going to turn to copyright infringement because of the protection. It is discouraging us iPod users who still occasionaly, which is a large portion of the country. I agree with C. Ahmed- "A CD that won't get imported onto my iPod is pretty much worthless."

So I guess in your situation, you just want what you actually pay for, meaning that if you pay for an audio CD, you expect to have full rights to the lossless audio on the disc, enabling you to rip the tracks at whatever bitrate you prefer. I see your point and agree with that, because if you wanted songs in AAC format at 128 kbps, you would just buy them from the iTunes Music Store in the first place.

I was in a similar situation when I bought Dave Matthews Band's "Stand Up" album, and then found that I could only rip to WMA format, and then couldn't convert that to mp3. I prefer 192 kbps when using mp3, and fortunately, someone posted the album in that format to a binary newsgroup. Did I feel bad for downloading the album? Not at all, because I had paid for the CD, yet couldn't rip it like I wanted.

Oddly enough, the record companies may be unintentionally sending more people to the iTunes Music Store. Since the iPod is the portable music player of choice for most people, they're going to want music that can be played on it. And if they can't get it from the CD's that they buy in a store, they're going to go where they know they can find music that is compatible with it. And since most people aren't audiophiles, the 128 kbps AAC songs sold in iTMS is more than adequate.

Personally, I think that Apple is just as guilty of forcing a format/music player on its customers as the record companies are, but it doesn't look like a compromise is coming any time soon.

I completely agree. Apple is just as guilty. It's the two sides stonewalling one another. It puts folks like us that prefer higher quality audio stuck in the middle. I rarely purchase from the iTMS but I do like having it available. I much prefer to own the albums and art work and rip the audio at a higher bitrate.

Why not use a Linux Live CD and import it with an available program in Linux? That way you avoid the malware from any label (shame on you Sony!), the DRM is usually ineffective and you don't have to sacrifice your Windows install [unless you're like me and have 1 2003 server, 2 XP SP2 pc's and a lab box just for this!! 😀 ]There should be a more musically sound way to do this instead of importing with Windows Media, burning to CDDA and re-importing (yes, I have done this a few times). Those codecs really wreak havoc on the song's fidelity.

I've had some similar problems importing. I have used other computers with older CD drives or even a DVD-ROM. Give that a try.

Why not use a Linux Live CD and import it with an available program in Linux? That way you avoid the malware from any label (shame on you Sony!)

That would require someone to install Linux, which im guessing most people are not either willing to do, or are too intimidated to do. Good idea though.

By the way, I dont have any idea what people are talking abouut with the latest DMB album being copy protected. I purchased it the day was released at Target and imported it after I got home from work. It was not copy-protected at all. Anybody can provide me dome insiget on how I got Lucky?

I have no idea how you managed to get an unprotected copy of Stand Up. It must have been your lucky day, my man. Everyone I know with a copy of that album has the copy protection on it.

Perhaps you got a Target exclusive, and that wasn't protected. Target has a lot of "exclusive" CDs, which normally include extra tracks or DVD content that the same album sold in other stores doesn't have, so perhaps that was the case for you. I have seen an extra CD that came with some versions of Stand Up with unreleased songs and live tracks, so maybe that's the one that you have.

Hiya Robert!

I'm not looking for a fight (just want that up front), but would like to comment on this:

"Personally, I think that Apple is just as guilty of forcing a format/music player on its customers as the record companies are, but it doesn't look like a compromise is coming any time soon."

While that is one valid view, I would like to make a further observation: If I am buying music from the iTMS, I have at least seen the ads from Apple and should be aware that I am buying with the iPod in mind. They make the player, and shoulkd therefore be expected to market items and services with that in mind. They have never made any attempt to hide the fact, and do market the two as parts of one package (the tab onthe website does read "iPod+iTunes" after all).

When I buy a CD, I am not buying for a platform, but for the content. That Sony also markets a line of audio devices is irrelevant, I should not be required to use their product to listen to their product. Why is that different? When I walk into a music store, the CDs are not broken out by compatible platform. There is no "WMP only" section, nor is there a "PSP" section, an "ATRAC" section... Rather, there is "Rock", "Blues", "Jazz", "Hip-Hop"...

I understand that an online format is going to need protection to keep it from ending up on a P2P network. Yes, it would be nice if everyone could play nice and the various DRM formats would work across platform. But for now, we all know that isn't possible. But on a CD? I listen to music on my iBook all the time. If I can't, I won't buy the CD. Nor, however, will I buy it from the iTMS. If I don't like the tactic a record company has employed, they won't get any of my money 😉

For now, one of the nice things is that many CDs are not Mac-proof. I'm a huge Santana fan, and am waiting until some colleagues have a chance to play it on my Macs before I buy.

...if you haven't yet, give a listen to the Santana track on the latest Herbie Hancock album "Possibilites". Great keyboard + great guitar = very much fun 😉

Gee, Scott, as usual you hit the nail on the head. I'm just majorly irked that I had to resort to iTMS for the Santana album because that was one I definitely wanted imported at a higher bitrate, OH WELL! The album itself is really good & I've got the Herbie Hancock album, too, another excellent choice. I've been hanging out at Starbuck's a lot & have picked up several CD's throught their promotional efforts.

Debbie

How is it that some people can get their hands on unprotected versions of the same album? I would think that the record company would protect ALL official copies, even promotional copies.

Scott & Debbie, you both make valid points, but unfortunately, there is no good protection system in place, so for now, we're stuck in the middle of a schoolyard fight between Apple and the record companies. And in my opinion, there is no way for Apple to win this fight, because they need the record companies more than they need Apple. The labels still make a fortune on CD sales, so iTMS isn't necessary for them to turn a profit. Until Apple concedes and opens up their protected content for playback on devices other than iPods (and they probably will have to change their prices also), the labels will continue with this ridiculous protection method.

Another question: if the labels are so worried about illegal file sharing, why do they offer workarounds for ripping CDs so freely? Are they content to have lower quality audio files floating about on P2P networks?

I got the standard Dual Disc version. I never heard about a exclusive release to target. I work there, I should know. It looks exactly like this:

http://tinyurl.com/8l3x9

Paul,

Since you work at Target, have you heard the new Aerosmith album, "Rockin' The Joint"? I keep seeing commercials about an exclusive Target release with extra tracks, and I was wondering what they were and if it was worth picking up for the extra tracks. Thanks!

Debbie:
Thanks for keeping my stock price up 😉
Those would be the folks responsible for the early hours we spoke of before. I'm on the management team of one of our stores here.

Paul,

Since you work at Target, have you heard the new Aerosmith >>album, "Rockin' The Joint"? I keep seeing commercials about >>an exclusive Target release with extra tracks, and I was >>wondering what they were and if it was worth picking up for >>the extra tracks. Thanks!

Sorry, I havent heard anything about theat yet, but I can look into it. I knowwe have the CD, but I havent taken a good look at it.