How do I unlock protected music files that I purchased?

... it states that the computer is authorized but when I attempt to play a song on the PC the dialogue box for authorization pops up and after filling in the info says PC is authorized try to play and the authorization box popos up again and loops this cycle. 😟

Mr. Tube Ben,

It is a common bug. For a fix, pls consult this article: iTunes repeatedly prompts to authorize computer to play iTunes Store purchases.

You can not. This system is called DRM, digital rights management. The idea is that Apple only allows those files to be played on five different computers, and as many iPhones, iPods and iPads as you like. Circumvening this is illegal, since upon purchase you agreed to this and basically signed a contract.

Rethinking about that PC: If you do not have more than a total of 5 computer authorized to those files, you can install iTunes on the PC, select the file(s), play it and authorize the computer, and they will work fine.

You can "unlock" DRM protected files legally by upgrading them to iTunes plus. This can be done in the iTunes store by clicking on iTunes plus. However there is a charge.

The computer does not appear to have to be authorized to get this option, although I haven't tried to complete it on an unauthorized PC.

I also do not know what happens if the DRM track is damaged and will not play.

You can also burn protected files onto an Audio CD a limited number of times.

Copying to an audio CD is not a way to transfer files.

The thread title was how to unlock protected files when can be done by upgrading at a price.

Transfering tracks on an external drive or via a network connection should be fine and does not affect whether or not the track plays.

There may be a problem with authorising the PC if none of the protected tracks play. If only a few are affected, maybe they have become corrupted. Do you have backup copies you could try?

I should have added that another possibility if some DRM tracks do not play is that they were purchased under another account.

You can use Get Info>>Summary tab to see the account name.

This should work on a track even if it will not play as long as the track is not actually corrupt.