Convert iTunes to MP3 Format

Category: Audio , Music

"I've purchased a bunch of music from iTunes and have enjoyed listening to them on my computer. But my portable music player is not an Apple iPod, so I can't take my songs with me. Is there any way I can get around this unfair restriction and convert my Itunes tracks to good old MP3?"


I Want My (Digital) Rights!

  [ En EspaƱol: Convierta iTunes a Formato MP3 ]
convert itunes to mp3
It does seem unfair... you paid for those songs and now you can't play them outside of the iTunes environment, on hardware not supported by Apple, or on operating systems not supported by iTunes.

That's because the iTunes tracks that you purchase and download are in a "protected" AAC or M4P audio format. Only it's not YOU that is being protected, it's Apple, or rather Apple's bottom line. Apple explains this by saying that their proprietary format gives you superior sound quality, but that's a smokescreen. It's all about DRM, and DRM is all about the money.

The ability to make copies of copyrighted materials is seen by the recording industry as a threat to its profitability, and perhaps rightly so. DRM (Digital Rights Management) was created by digital media publishers so they could control the duplication and dissemination of their content. But DRM is actually a misnomer. Because rather than granting rights, DRM actually restricts the consumer from doing perfectly valid and reasonable things with music they own.

MP3 is the standard for digital audio. An MP3 music track can be played on almost ANY player, whether it's portable or computer-based. You can burn MP3s to a CD and they'll play just fine on almost any modern CD player.

But Apple's iTunes software doesn't create MP3 files when you buy a song. The files are "protected" and cannot be played on a computer which does not have the iTunes software. You CAN copy them to your portable music player, as long as you bought that player from Apple and it says iPod on it. Understandably, this makes Linux users, and the millions of owners of non-iPod music players a little upset.

Converting iTunes to MP3


If you right-click on a music track in iTunes, there is an option to Convert Selection to some other format.

Probably it says "Convert Selection to AAC", which is useless because your iTunes tracks are already in AAC format!

You'll need to change your import settings to get iTunes to import the track as MP3. In iTunes 8, go to Edit / Preferences / General and click the Import Settings button. In older versions of iTunes, click on Edit / Preferences / Importing (or Edit / Preferences / Advanced / Importing). Your goal is to change the Import Using from the default setting to "MP3 Encoder".

Click OK to save this setting.

Now when you right-click on a music track, there is an option to Convert Selection to MP3. But just try it... iTunes will tell you that "Protected files cannot be converted to other formats."

Converting AAC to MP3

Bzzzt! Sorry, thanks for playing. It turns out you can only convert non-protected formats (such as WAV or WMA) to MP3. So what can we do? Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this annoying restriction.

Method 1: Burn the track(s) to a CD, then you can open the CD in iTunes and the Convert Selection to MP3 will do exactly what you want. Just be aware that you'll have TWO copies of that song in iTunes -- one in the original AAC format and one in MP3 format. You can delete the AAC version if you like. (Note that you must burn an audio CD, not a data CD. Check the setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Burning if you have a problem importing tracks from the CD.)

Method 2: If you have lots of music, you might need a big pile of CDs to convert everything with the "burn and rip" method above. That's where software can help. A "virtual CD drive" such as NoteBurner or CD Emulator can simulate a real CD burner, eliminating the need for real CD-R discs. The Windows operating system will treat the virtual drive just like a real one, so you can tell your CD burning software to access the virtual drive by it's own drive letter.

The JHymn software can also help. JHymn was created to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law, and will free your iTunes music from DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality. JHymn provides a drag and drop graphical interface for both Mac OSX and Windows users. But currently, JHymn will not work with iTunes Version 6 or higher. If you have an earlier version of iTunes, keep it! (To download older versions of many software titles, check the OldVersion.com or OldApps.com sites.)

Note that JHymn is not meant to aid music piracy, but it does contradict the iTunes user agreement, and may not be legal in your country. You should be aware of the legalites of DRM circumvention in your country and make your own decision whether using JHymn software is right for you. Then use JHymn only for making archival copies of your own music, for copying tracks to an MP3 player, or for playing your music on a non-Itunes platform.

NOTE: For DRM removal alternatives, check out my big DRM Remover list. You'll find options for Windows, Mac and Linux users at that link.

For more information on the legalities of DRM circumvention, see http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/jhymn_faq.php#legal




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Posted by Bob Rankin on January 16, 2006 07:13 PM


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Most recent comments on "Convert iTunes to MP3 Format"

(See all 295 comments for this article.)

Posted by:
Emmanuel Asante
03 Jun 2009

What about my iPod library. Can I convert the music in it to mp3 file. I have some music on that I want to take out but is impossible.


Posted by:
michele
04 Jun 2009

thank you thank you! worked so happy now i can put songs on my website!!!


Posted by:
Anthony
05 Jun 2009

There is a MUCH EASIER WAY THAN THAT!!!

1. Open iTunes 8
2. Find song in "purchesed" section
3. Right click desired song
4. Select "CREATE MP3 VERSION"
5. Go to the root folder where all your songs are located. Copy and paste into new folder if desired. This makes a copy file as an mp3 and an mp3 song in your library.

EDITOR'S NOTE: That only works if you purchased an "iTunes Plus" (unprotected) version of the song.


Posted by:
Nick
07 Jun 2009

GREAT!!!!!!!! thanks so much, helped a lot


Posted by:
Kyle
10 Jun 2009

Thank you so much! This was really a big help.


Posted by:
brandon
26 Jun 2009

Thanks so i can convert my michale jackson music r.i.p


Posted by:
greg
27 Jun 2009

dude you rock. it converted my garage band to Itunes files!


Posted by:
Anewangel
27 Jun 2009

Thanks so much...your info was really helpful and now I am happily dancing along to the songs (from itunes) on my new phone!!!


Posted by:
Shelby
28 Jun 2009

Thanks....it worked!! i'll do that all the time now! That made my day.


Posted by:
Bob
30 Jun 2009

If I convert the songs in my iTunes library from ACC format to MP3 format will I be able to select and play them on my Ipod?


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