How to upgrade protected AAC files to iTunes Plus (DRM-free)?

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How to upgrade protected AAC files to iTunes Plus (DRM-free)?

Hi everyone. I have been purchasing music from the iTunes Music Store ever since it opened here in the US. Along the way I have purchased both protected AAC files (the original 128 kbps files), iTunes Plus files, and I've upgraded some of the protected to iTunes Plus files for $0.30 over the last few years. I now have approximately 900 "protected AAC files" left that I wanted to upgrade to iTunes Plus and see the only way to do that now is via iTunes Match.

My dilema is this... I have approximately 900+ files that I want to upgrade and don't feel like manually deleting every track, finding it in the iTunes Music Store, and then redownloading (in the iTunes Plus format). Is there a way to do all 900+ at one time?

Thank you,

Keith

Posted on Nov 4, 2013 3:27 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 4, 2013 10:52 PM in response to keithos27

Hi,

You can select all tracks, ctrl click and tick select and delete from computer but not from cloud. Not all tracks will be available - those that can be converted show bit rate as 256 Kbps. Others will remain as 128 Kbps.

Next select tracks again and ctrl click and select download.

By the way some of those tracks will have an iCloud status of either uploaded or matched. Can not do anything with uploaded file but you can upgrade those shown as matched.

Jim

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Answer 2

Nov 5, 2013 4:20 AM in response to keithos27

You can also burn the tracks to an Audio CD then reimport them.

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Answer 3

keithos27 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 5, 2013 4:45 AM in response to Jimzgoldfinch

Hi Jim,

Thank you for taking the time to respond! When I ctrl-click on the items I don't see any options that you listed. Please see the attached screenshot below.

Thanks,

Keith

User uploaded file

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Answer 4

keithos27 Author

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13 points

Nov 5, 2013 4:46 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the reply. While that may be an option, I'm not intersted in the time/resources needed to burn 900+ songs. 😟

-Keith

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Answer 5

Nov 5, 2013 4:52 AM in response to keithos27

First you need to enable the iCloud Status, Bit Rate and Kind columns so you can see which tracks are "matched" and which are "uploaded." Any tracks that are "uploaded" will not be upgraded. To enable these columns switch to Song view then pull down View > View Options and select the appropriate check boxes then close the small window. Once this is done you can see the tracks that are protected and matched. These tracks can then be deleted from the iTunes library and the HDD (but make sure you have them backed up first, just in case) then downloaded from the cloud. They will then be DRM-free 256 Kbps AAC files.

As Jim points out you will not get a 100% match rate. The process simply isn't that good.

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Answer 6

keithos27 Author

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13 points

Nov 5, 2013 4:59 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

Thanks Michael.

Okay I created a new Smart Playlist where iCloud Status is "Matched". This now has a playlist of 6,901 songs, of which Kind is "Protected AAC audio file" for 456 and "Purchased AAC audio file" for 7.

Are you saying that fo the 456 mentioned above I can simply delete them from my iTunes library and then re-download them and they'll come back as "purchased AAC audio file" in 256 instead of "protected AAC audio file" in 128?

Thanks,

Keith

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Answer 7

Nov 5, 2013 5:02 AM in response to keithos27

The tracks that are "purchased AAC audio files" are already DRM-free so no reason to delete and re-download those. When you delete and download the protected tracks the Kind will then be "Matched AAC Audio file."

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Answer 8

keithos27 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 5, 2013 5:05 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

Okay, cool. One more question... I deleted "Air Supply - All Out of Love" and then went into the iTunes Music Store, and re-downloaded the song. It was "protected" and when I re-downloaded it came back as "AAC audio file" at 128 (not purchased, not protected) but it still required a password to play. Thoughts on why it's not either "protected" or "purchased" but now a third "kind" of file?

-Keith

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Answer 9

keithos27 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 5, 2013 5:06 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

Michael,

One other question. Like I said above I identified which tracks were "matched" and "protected" via a smart playlist. When I delete them from the playlist it doesn't delete them from the library. How can I easily identify those songs in the "Library" and not in the playlist? This way I can delete all of them at once.

-Keith

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Answer 10

Nov 5, 2013 5:09 AM in response to keithos27

They should be "matched aac audio file" but sometimes the download goes a little wonky. You can delete the tracks and download them again. But there is no reason to "go to the iTunes Store." Just do it from right in the iTunes Browser. Highlight the tracks, right-click and choose "download."

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Answer 11

keithos27 Author

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13 points

Nov 5, 2013 5:09 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

I already bought iTunes Match and had the library scanned/setup two nights ago. I'm good to go on that front.

Thanks for double-checking. 🙂

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Answer 12

Nov 5, 2013 5:10 AM in response to keithos27

Yes, I realized that after I hit send on my post. So I edited it. Heh.

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Answer 13

keithos27 Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 5, 2013 5:14 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

So you are correct... I just did that and now it came back as 256 "Matched AAC audio file".

This stuff is confusing!!! LOL. 🙂

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Answer 14

keithos27 Author

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13 points

Nov 5, 2013 5:24 AM in response to keithos27

Still confused on how to easily identify/delete/download said 456 tracks when not in Playlist mode. Any idea(s)?

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Answer 15

Nov 5, 2013 5:26 AM in response to keithos27

I'm not sure I understand the question, but here goes... you have to be in Song view to see the columns you want to see. You can be in a playlist or in the main library, it doesn't matter. Is that what you were asking?

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