HLS music format, why?

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Level 1

12 points

HLS music format, why?

This morning I've bought the album Magic Moments 13 (Music in the Spirit of Jazz), to my astonishment from the 16 files contained in the album 12 were sowhing HLS Media/MOVPKG Apple TV !

Also why the album as differents rates among all the songs, are they not supposed to be the same?

Outside of using Music player, no other player will use it!!!

Why Apple?

The HD music it was supposed to be ALAC and then other players can accept it. Does anybody else experience the same? What are the workaround found so far?

Using Monterey version 12.0.1 with a chip M1

iMac 24″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 25, 2021 6:09 AM

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Answer 1

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ToToRub Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 27, 2021 2:46 AM in response to Jimzgoldfinch

Thanks Jim,

I don't understand why:

1- The mix of different rates in an album!

2- If you buy music should be DRM free

3- Apple should explicit mention the use of HLS (and consequent issue that came with this format!). This mean if you have an entire library (in my case more than 1GB) composed of several popular kind of music formats (AAC,FLAC, ALAC,WAV, MQA, AIFF & DSD) that you are restricted to on your choices of not use your player of choices, because decide to be incompatible with the rest of world. Comeon this a wake-up Apple.

I once set off my subscription of Music (iTunes) because that mess that cause in my library, and now again with a new format that nobody else can read except Apple. This is not the way to go.

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Answer 2

Nov 25, 2021 7:43 AM in response to ToToRub

Hi,

HLS is format thatApple uses for streaming lossless and hi-res music. This format has DRM.

In preferences, you can select the streaming/ download quality - High Quality (256 Kbps), Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless

Normal iTunes purchase are 256 Kbps and are DRM free and can be used freely on other devices. If you opt for Lossless or hi-res Lossless, you will be able to play on Apple Music compatible devices.

With regard Magic Moments 13 (Music in the Spirit of Jazz), this is a compilation of various artist. It is possible that not all tracks sourced from iTunes Store have a lossless version.

The HD music it was supposed to be ALAC and then other players can accept it. Does anybody else experience the same? What are the workaround found so far?

HLS as used by Apple is based on ALAC. It cannot be used on other players. There is no workaround.

Jim

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

62,852 points

Nov 27, 2021 4:55 AM in response to ToToRub

ToToRub,

You may have the mis-impression that the iTunes Store sells lossless downloads. It does not. The lossless announcement from Apple is about the streaming service, not the iTunes Store. Details here: About lossless audio in Apple Music - Apple Support

If you want a lossless download of that album, check out other download retailers. It seems to be available at Qobuz:

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/magic-moments-13-music-in-the-spirit-of-jazz-various-artists/py7iwo0k6yoab

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HLS music format, why?

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