Converting m4a files

Welcome to discussions! Song purchases are actually. .m4p files. The only way you can get them to mp3 is to burn them to an audio CD, use the audio CD to re-rip into iTunes as mp3.

Most music sold on-line today is encrypted and can only be decrypted and used on specific devices and programs. So music bought from Sony can only be played on Sony music players. And music purchased from Apple can only be played on iPods.

As mentioned in the post above you can burn the files to CD and convert them to MP3 files. But burning music to CDs for the purpose of getting around the encryption(DRM) violates your user agreement with Apple.

Actually Brian, burning to an audio CD is allowed & you can use the audio CD in whatever manner you wish. This is the standard recommendation that all of us offer in these forums when someone needs to convert an iTMS purchase to mp3. It really isn't a problem or there would literally be hundreds of people in these forums who would be kicked out of using the store permanently.

PLUS, burning them to CD is a good idea under any circumstance. Backups are invaluable.

Good luck!

Brian, burning to an audio CD is allowed & you can
use the audio CD in whatever manner you wish. This
is the standard recommendation that all of us
offer in these forums when someone needs to convert
an iTMS purchase to mp3. It really isn't a problem
or there would literally be hundreds of people in
these forums who would be kicked out of using the
store permanently.

Try reading what I actually said. I did not say that burning CDs was a violation. I said that burning to audio CDs with the intent by pass the DRM protection is a violation. Read the agreement. It is also a black letter violation of the DMCA.

And yes I agree that these rules are absurd and the Apple for the most part looks the other way making the risk small. But that does not mean that they are not there.

Brian, I read what you said & I disagree. Here are 2 direct quotes from the iTMS "terms of service" that coverting m4p files should fall under.

"You shall be authorized to use the Products only for personal, noncommercial use."


"You shall be entitled to export, burn (if applicable) or copy Products solely for personal, noncommercial use. "

Notice the key phrase "personal, noncommercial use". As long as this action is done for personal use, it shouldn 't be a problem. Also, I would suggest you do a search of these forums & see how many times this solution is offered, so people can change format on their purchases. If this was a problem, our Hosts, (Apple moderators} would be pulling these posts right & left. Please don't hesistate to show me in the "terms of service" for the store where burning to an audio CD & using to re-import as mp3 is not allowed.

StarDeb55 Thank you for your thoughtfully reply. There are a couple of points I believe may have been missed.

1. As I already said I do not dissagree that all of us mention CD burning in the form. I my self mentioned it in this thread. Yes Apple looks the other way on this. As it does with many DRM restrictions. Which seem to be imposded more by the Record lables.

2. I never said the acition was mentioned in the terms of service. I said it was menitioned in the user agreement. More specificlly the End User Licence agreement which refrences mulitpel other user agrements. I am not a lawyer but I do work in software develpment and have to review EULAs to verify products can be used in our products.

I do not have to go though all the documents cited in the iTunes EULA at the molment. If you read it you will find a statement saying something to the efftect of "Apple reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in this agreement." This is common wording in most EULAs.

In the EULA for fairplay It goes on to list approved uses. In the area of burning CDs it says words to the effect of "You are athorized to use the software to burn CDs for the purpose of playing in CD players".

When I burn a cd and put it back in the computer it just takes them back off as m4a again. It doesn't change it to mp3.

I assume you are talking about an audio CD burned of your music store purchases? If that is the case, change your importing options to mp3, then re-import this audio CD.

Since you are new to the forums, I need to make a suggestion. You have posted on a thread that is 3 months old which is a really bad idea. If I hadn't had my e-mail notification turned on I would have never known about your post. It's always much better to start your own topic by clicking on the "post new topic" link on the main page of the forums.