New iTunes Plus

legodude83089 · May 31st, 2007

Well apparently Apple has released a new program for iTunes called iTunes Plus coinciding with their iTunes 7.2 release.

Some Details:

-The Music is DRM free.

-It has a bitrate of 256kbps, twice that of regular iTunes downloadable songs.
-No burn limits or computer limits.
-It costs $1.29 per song.
-It is available on select albums.
-An upgrade option is available for songs or albums you've already purchased for an additional 30 cents a song and 30% of the original album price for your album downloads. However you can not upgrade individual songs or albums. You must upgrade all available upgrades for your library.
-Most iTunes Plus albums are available for the same price as DRM-protected versions of the albums.

Music videos are also available DRM-Free with 256k audio tracks with no change in price but are 60 cents to upgrade if previously purchased.

**Grandmaster** · May 31st, 2007

Sweet. I'll definitely check this out...mmm 256kbps

Major kudos to Apple for this move!

**Geffy** · May 31st, 2007

sweet, wooo False Flags DRM free

**Grandmaster** · June 1st, 2007

Okay I read the story on the frontpage about your name and email being included in the music files...well now I'm not as enthusiastic as before...but I guess stripping your name and email from the files is better than stripping DRM?

**X-Istence** · June 1st, 2007

Why would it matter? It is now DRM free, it can play on any player that can play mpeg4 files, thus poeple who were not going to pirate are good to go, those that were going to pirate the song would have found a way to do it anyway, so stripping a name away should be no problem.

**muzikool** · June 1st, 2007

Yeah, I'm not sure what the problem is either. I don't care if my name is on something that will never be made available to the public.

legodude83089 · June 1st, 2007

If it really bothers you, you can hex-edit your name and e-mail address into spaces and the file still plays.

**Geffy** · June 1st, 2007

iTunes Plus error codes collect them all!!!

Think I've got 504, 8006 and another one which I cant remember now. If I see it again I'll post it.

**falconguard** · June 2nd, 2007

Originally Posted by muzikool

Yeah, I'm not sure what the problem is either. I don't care if my name is on something that will never be made available to the public.

Yeah right! Until the evil warlord that is the RIAA kicks down Apples door to make known the list...

might as well just post your name now along with you address, and beat the inevitable RIAA finger.

**X-Istence** · June 2nd, 2007

Bert JW Regeer
xistence [at] gmail [dot] com

Now what? I am confused, why was I posting this?

**Grandmaster** · June 2nd, 2007

^ You just confused me too.

**Geffy** · June 2nd, 2007

Originally Posted by X-Istence

Bert JW Regeer
xistence [at] gmail [dot] com

Now what? I am confused, why was I posting this?

you where proving the point that you don't care if your name and email address is out in the wild wild webbernet

**Grandmaster** · June 2nd, 2007

That's like comparing apples and oranges.

mfarley · June 9th, 2007

I used the iTunes Plus Upgrade All feature to upgrade my library...smooth transition all around. I'm very pleased with the feature and new format so far.

legodude83089 · June 10th, 2007

I'm curious, now thinking about it, if the main reason Apple chose to upgrade the bitrate to 256kbps was so that it would be harder to crack their drm encryption. If they released the songs at 128kbps with the same AAC track as the protected versions then it would make it alot easier to reverse engineer the 2 different files by comparing them to figure out the DRM encryption. Anyone else thought about this? Just throwing it out there.

**Geffy** · June 10th, 2007

makes some sense, not complaining though

**X-Istence** · June 10th, 2007

The DRM in iTunes 7.1 was already cracked before iTunes Plus came out. No, the reason they went higher bitrate is because people wanted it. Studios have been making the song volume higher and higher instead of letting the user choose by using their volume knob. This was done in an effort to be out there recognized over the other songs.

They do this by removing the peaks, and bringing the lows higher up, this way putting the entire song into the mid-band, which to us makes it seem louder, but it also removes quality. Then when it is re-encoded the file compression scheme will take some of these highs, and remove even more of them, and since they just brought the lows up higher it would start cutting into those as well. So now the song sounds flat.

On my Bose speakers I can hear the difference between the two qualities, on my car stereo speaker I cannot.

May 31st, 2007	Top \| #1
legodude83089 OSNN Dude Joined: December 2005 Location: St. Louis Posts: 74 Reputation: 131 Power: 80	New iTunes Plus Well apparently Apple has released a new program for iTunes called iTunes Plus coinciding with their iTunes 7.2 release. Some Details: -The Music is DRM free. -It has a bitrate of 256kbps, twice that of regular iTunes downloadable songs. -No burn limits or computer limits. -It costs $1.29 per song. -It is available on select albums. -An upgrade option is available for songs or albums you've already purchased for an additional 30 cents a song and 30% of the original album price for your album downloads. However you can not upgrade individual songs or albums. You must upgrade all available upgrades for your library. -Most iTunes Plus albums are available for the same price as DRM-protected versions of the albums. Music videos are also available DRM-Free with 256k audio tracks with no change in price but are 60 cents to upgrade if previously purchased.

May 31st, 2007	Top \| #2
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	Re: New iTunes Plus Sweet. I'll definitely check this out...mmm 256kbps Major kudos to Apple for this move!

May 31st, 2007	Top \| #3
Geffy OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,805 Reputation: 1490 Power: 217	Re: New iTunes Plus sweet, wooo False Flags DRM free  • blog • tumblog • lastfm • flickr • #rubyonrails • @twitter "I could be replaced with a very small shell script"

June 1st, 2007	Top \| #4
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	Re: New iTunes Plus Okay I read the story on the frontpage about your name and email being included in the music files...well now I'm not as enthusiastic as before...but I guess stripping your name and email from the files is better than stripping DRM?

June 1st, 2007	Top \| #5
X-Istence * Joined: December 2001 Location: USA Posts: 6,496 Reputation: 2808 Power: 220	Re: New iTunes Plus Why would it matter? It is now DRM free, it can play on any player that can play mpeg4 files, thus poeple who were not going to pirate are good to go, those that were going to pirate the song would have found a way to do it anyway, so stripping a name away should be no problem. An engineers technical notebook

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June 1st, 2007	Top \| #6
muzikool Act your wage. Joined: December 2001 Location: Texas, USA Reputation: Yes, please. Posts: 7,626 Reputation: 2900 Power: 232	Re: New iTunes Plus Yeah, I'm not sure what the problem is either. I don't care if my name is on something that will never be made available to the public.

June 1st, 2007	Top \| #7
legodude83089 OSNN Dude Joined: December 2005 Location: St. Louis Posts: 74 Reputation: 131 Power: 80	Re: New iTunes Plus If it really bothers you, you can hex-edit your name and e-mail address into spaces and the file still plays.

June 1st, 2007	Top \| #8
Geffy OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,805 Reputation: 1490 Power: 217	Re: New iTunes Plus iTunes Plus error codes collect them all!!! Think I've got 504, 8006 and another one which I cant remember now. If I see it again I'll post it.  • blog • tumblog • lastfm • flickr • #rubyonrails • @twitter "I could be replaced with a very small shell script"

June 2nd, 2007	Top \| #9
falconguard Carbon based lifeform Joined: February 2004 Location: SoCal Posts: 3,406 Reputation: 2305 Power: 158	Re: New iTunes Plus Originally Posted by muzikool Yeah, I'm not sure what the problem is either. I don't care if my name is on something that will never be made available to the public. Yeah right! Until the evil warlord that is the RIAA kicks down Apples door to make known the list... might as well just post your name now along with you address, and beat the inevitable RIAA finger.

June 2nd, 2007	Top \| #10
X-Istence * Joined: December 2001 Location: USA Posts: 6,496 Reputation: 2808 Power: 220	Re: New iTunes Plus Bert JW Regeer xistence [at] gmail [dot] com Now what? I am confused, why was I posting this? An engineers technical notebook

June 2nd, 2007	Top \| #11
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	Re: New iTunes Plus ^ You just confused me too.

June 2nd, 2007	Top \| #12
Geffy OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,805 Reputation: 1490 Power: 217	Re: New iTunes Plus Originally Posted by X-Istence Bert JW Regeer xistence [at] gmail [dot] com Now what? I am confused, why was I posting this? you where proving the point that you don't care if your name and email address is out in the wild wild webbernet  • blog • tumblog • lastfm • flickr • #rubyonrails • @twitter "I could be replaced with a very small shell script"

June 2nd, 2007	Top \| #13
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	Re: New iTunes Plus That's like comparing apples and oranges.

June 9th, 2007	Top \| #14
mfarley OSNN Senior Addict Joined: June 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 268 Reputation: 160 Power: 88	Re: New iTunes Plus I used the iTunes Plus Upgrade All feature to upgrade my library...smooth transition all around. I'm very pleased with the feature and new format so far. evga nforce 680i \| Intel e6600 @ 3.2ghz 1.41v w/Zalman CPS9500 \| 2GB Corsair Dominator XMS2 DDR800 (1:1 FSB:RAM) \| XFX 7600GT

June 10th, 2007	Top \| #15
legodude83089 OSNN Dude Joined: December 2005 Location: St. Louis Posts: 74 Reputation: 131 Power: 80	Re: New iTunes Plus I'm curious, now thinking about it, if the main reason Apple chose to upgrade the bitrate to 256kbps was so that it would be harder to crack their drm encryption. If they released the songs at 128kbps with the same AAC track as the protected versions then it would make it alot easier to reverse engineer the 2 different files by comparing them to figure out the DRM encryption. Anyone else thought about this? Just throwing it out there.

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June 10th, 2007	Top \| #16
Geffy OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: March 2002 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,805 Reputation: 1490 Power: 217	Re: New iTunes Plus makes some sense, not complaining though  • blog • tumblog • lastfm • flickr • #rubyonrails • @twitter "I could be replaced with a very small shell script"

June 10th, 2007	Top \| #17
X-Istence * Joined: December 2001 Location: USA Posts: 6,496 Reputation: 2808 Power: 220	Re: New iTunes Plus The DRM in iTunes 7.1 was already cracked before iTunes Plus came out. No, the reason they went higher bitrate is because people wanted it. Studios have been making the song volume higher and higher instead of letting the user choose by using their volume knob. This was done in an effort to be out there recognized over the other songs. They do this by removing the peaks, and bringing the lows higher up, this way putting the entire song into the mid-band, which to us makes it seem louder, but it also removes quality. Then when it is re-encoded the file compression scheme will take some of these highs, and remove even more of them, and since they just brought the lows up higher it would start cutting into those as well. So now the song sounds flat. On my Bose speakers I can hear the difference between the two qualities, on my car stereo speaker I cannot. An engineers technical notebook