Redownloading iTunes song purchases in higher bitrate

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Redownloading iTunes song purchases in higher bitrate

I have a number of prior songs purchased on iTunes in the older 128 kbps "Protected AAC" format. How can I upgrade these Apple purchased songs to the present standard 256 kbps "Purchased AAC" format?

Additionally & Ideally, is it possible to upgrade these to Apple Lossless or AIFF format?

Some notes: I have a fairly large music library, I'm not a subscriber to Apple Music, but would pay for Apple Match if it helped solve this problem. I don't care about file size and I use a PC with Windows 10 Pro.

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Apr 14, 2020 5:42 AM

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Answer 1

CarlAVII

Community Specialist

Apr 14, 2020 6:14 PM in response to GromPilot

Hello GromPilot,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! I understand that you would like to know If you can change the file format of the songs which you've previously purchased in iTunes.

Redownloading an album won't change the format that it is in. I tested this out with an album I purchased in 2006, that is 128kbps Protected AAC format. I downloaded it to my new Mac, and the same 128kbps Protected AAC format files were downloaded.

iTunes does have the ability to convert a song to a different file format and keep the original, if it's music you've imported. You can learn more about this process from this article: Convert music file formats in iTunes on PC. The same article also mentions:

"Important: You can convert iTunes Store purchases only if they’re iTunes Plus songs."

You can learn more about iTunes Match here: Subscribe to iTunes Match.

All the best.

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Redownloading iTunes song purchases in higher bitrate

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