What format are itunes songs in??

dory

I can't get them working on my Mp3 player, that isn't an ipod. I export them and save them to a pen drive and transfer that over to my pc with the Creative software on it but most of the songs don't show up.

Is there a way of converting them?

NeVeR

as far as i know, when you buy songs from Itunes store you can only play them on Itunes players. They have a code built into them.

aidan_walsh

iTunes on Windows (I presume its the same on Mac) has an option to burn your songs as either CD audio or on an MP3 CD.

K.O.Kiki

Are you sure you're not ripping the songs in AAC format? Cos that guarantees non-compatability on non-iPod devices instantly.
Change your settings, and rip them again -- this time as MP3s.

ZENER

The Sony PSP plays AAC. Songs downloaded from the iTMS will be protected by DRM, songs ripped from your own CDs won't but many MP3 players don't understand this format yet. Change the rip format to MP3 in iTunes preferences to guarantee wider compatibility. I'm surprised the Zen range don't support it yet.

ZEN

Oriel

dory,
songs downloaded from iTunes are in m4p format. Apple's own crappy format.
You can get programs to convert them from m4p to mp3.
I have one, but I can't remember what it's called, but it converted an entire album in no time at all.

Google for "m4p to mp3" and I'm sure there will something there to help you.
Hope this helps.

S.

SouperComputer

google jhymn if you have bought songs from the iTunes store and wish to put them on your non-apple music player.

Only bummer is if you have purchased them through iTunes V6.0 it doesnt work

rogue-entity

Actually, Apple iTunes songs are provided in AAC (Apple Audio Coding?).
The songs are actualy MPEG-4 Audio files, but those provided from the music store are protected with FairPlay. There are programmes that can use the FairPlay decryption keys in iTunes to decrypt the files and save them as MP3s but it would be easier to just burn them to a CD.

j26

sinecurea wrote:

dory,
songs downloaded from iTunes are in m4p format. Apple's own crappy format.
You can get programs to convert them from m4p to mp3.
I have one, but I can't remember what it's called, but it converted an entire album in no time at all.

Google for "m4p to mp3" and I'm sure there will something there to help you.
Hope this helps.

S.

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format is actually better than mp3 and was developed by Dolby, Sony and Nokia, not Apple. A 128kb aac file will sound at least as good as 192 kb mp3, so tunes take up less space. For some reason there are not that many aac players on the market, although my Sony Ericsson K750i has no problem with them.

Heinrich

iTunes!!!

RTFM

Read the help menu under exporting and you will get this:

Saving a copy of a song in a new file format
You can convert a song to a different file format while keeping a copy of the original. For example, you can save a copy of a compressed song file such as MP3 or AAC in an uncompressed song format (AIFF or WAV).


When converting from a compressed to uncompressed file format (for example, from MP3 to AIFF) you shouldn't notice any reduction in sound quality. However, when converting between compressed formats (for example, MP3 and AAC), you may notice a reduction in the sound quality. For the best results, if you want your music encoded in a different file format, you should import the music again from the original source using the new encoding format.

To convert a song's file format:
Choose Edit > Preferences, then click the Advanced tab at the top of the window and click Importing.
From the Import Using pop-up menu, choose the encoding format that you want to convert the song to, then click OK to save the settings.
Select one or more songs in your library, then choose Advanced > Convert Selection to MP3, Convert Selection to AAC, Convert Selection to Apple Lossless, Convert Selection to AIFF, or Convert Selection to WAV. (The menu item changes to show what's selected in your Importing preferences.)

To convert all the songs in a folder or on a disk, hold down the Shift key and choose Advanced > "Convert Selection to," then choose the folder or disk containing the songs you want to convert. All the songs in the folder or on the disk will be converted except audio files you purchased from the iTunes Music Store. (Purchased songs are encoded using a protected AAC format that prevents them from being converted.)


The song in its original format and the newly converted song appear in your library.