Old Music, new iPod

[Nater324]

I got an iPod nano for Christmas and I am trying to add the music from my computer to the iPod but I got an error message stating that it can't convert the music files to AAC format from WMA because it is protected. I bought all my music from Walmart.com. Is there a way around this or is there a converter out there that can convert my music from WMA to AAC so I do not have to buy all 137 songs from iTunes? Also is it possible to burn all my music to cds then import from cd?

[toehead410]

I ran into a similar problem today while loading songs to my wife's Palm Zire31. When transferring the music files to the device, a message indicating 'insufficient rights' displayed when attempting to transfer any downloaded tunes. The only success I had was with tunes from my CDs. I had converted several tracks to mp3, including the downloaded music, but only the CD tracks would transfer.

[Nater324]

Thanks you two. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I was doing wrong. Have a Happy Holiday!!

[toehead410]

I found a legal (I did run across several illegal solutions, but chose not involve my wife in such behavior) solution for the problem I was having with digital rights on the Palm Zire31. I found a download on the PalmOne website designed to work specifically with the mobile Real Player that is on the pda. The description for this download tells me that it makes the AAC format readable by the player. Hopefully this will work. I'll be trying it out tonight or tomorrow on her pda. :D

[Just Playin]

Originally Posted by Nater324

I got an iPod nano for Christmas and I am trying to add the music from my computer to the iPod but I got an error message stating that it can't convert the music files to AAC format from WMA because it is protected. I bought all my music from Walmart.com. Is there a way around this or is there a converter out there that can convert my music from WMA to AAC so I do not have to buy all 137 songs from iTunes? Also is it possible to burn all my music to cds then import from cd?

You will need to burn all of them to an Audio CD (like the one you would play in your car's CD player) and import them into iTunes from the CD as you can't directly convert protected WMA files. I would recommend a rewriteable CD as it will take approximately 9 full discs to do the job.

[toehead410]

Just Playin...
Do you mean to say that the digital rights on audio files can be circumvented simply by burning the songs to CD, and then convert and import from the disk? Will this method work with any music files and with any portable device?

[Adrynalyne]

Originally Posted by kevmcq7

basically the reason it wont convert is because download brands like walmart or napster will put copyright programs prohibiting you to change the format, just to make more money because you have to buy the same song in different formats

Actually, they do it to reduce piracy.

[YiffyWereWolf]

Actually, they do it to increase profits.

[toehead410]

This seems like a great debate, but it does not anser my questions. I simply would like to know what I can legally do with downloaded music and what tools are available for me to do it with.

[Adrynalyne]

Originally Posted by YiffyWereWolf

Actually, they do it to increase profits.

By reducing piracy. ::

Nobody works for free.

Making you buy multiple song formats has nothing to do with it.

Both Napster and Walmart.com specifically say they are not compatible with Ipod and use the WMA format.

Napster takes some nice potshsots at Apple here:
http://www.napster.com/using_napster...d_napster.html

[Adrynalyne]

Originally Posted by toehead410

This seems like a great debate, but it does not anser my questions. I simply would like to know what I can legally do with downloaded music and what tools are available for me to do it with.

Did you try burning it to CD?

[toehead410]

No, but I'll try it soon and follow up here. I had never heard of that method and was looking for further verification of its effectiveness.
[tip of the hat]

[toehead410]

No luck at all. I use various burning tools, some of which will not allow me to burn it due to digital rights, but I did find a utility that would burn it to a CD-RW. That's the good news. That's as far as I made it. Once on the disk, nothing I have would transfer the music to the device. I removed the card from the device and put it in a card reader, then tried again. Same results.
Anyone have further suggestions?

The device uses a mobile version of RealPlayer. So far, the only downloaded music that has transferred properly has been from the Real site in a .rax file while CD tracks are transferred as .mp3 by default.