iTunes

[Steve]

I downloaded this last night as Apple have opened the store to New Zealanders. Well, they have had the store open for awhile now. I personally don't trust those MP3 pay sites where you download XX amount of music for XX amount a month. I just don't feel right giving my credit card info to them. iTunes is pretty easy to use although I have not purchased anything as of yet. I have a few basic questions for those of you who use it:

1.
Do I need an ipod to use the music I download from the store? Yeah, simple question :o

2.
DRM free? As I understand only some music labels on itunes have DRM free music. Is this true?

3. What happens to my music if my hard drive dies? Do I have to pay to get my music back again?

4.
Movie rentals? As it stands movie rentals on itunes is actually cheaper than the local video store :o. Is the movie streamed or can I download the whole thing? How long do I have to watch it?

[d3ad connection]

I dont know a whole lot about Apple's stuff, but...

1. Nope, though depending on the file format and DRM status, you might need iTunes to play it.
2. Yes, from what I heard & read, some of it is DRM-free.

[Steve]

^ Cheers. :)

Another question: Which format does the dowloaded music come in? MP3? AFF (not sure if that's it. Apple format anyway?)

[Klaus Kinski]

Concerning question 3: I have exactly that problem at the moment. I hope I can shed light on that until monday. Had to reformat the HD and couldn't backup everything. I hope I didn't loose my purchases or Apple ight loose me as customer. iTunes won't let me redownload as of now.
I suddenly appreciate Steam even more.

[Steve]

I'll await your reply :) ...

/hopes Klaus can download his music again :o

[Mr.Fibbles]

Music files lost in HDD crash are lost. iTunes does a really crappy job of insuring your purchases. I have pretty much stopped buying music from them because I have lost my HDD and had to buy them back afterwards. Once you burn them on a DVD/CD you can save them though. I have gotten in the habit of just making a "mix CD" with the music I buy on iTunes so if my HDD dies I can rip those songs back on. Once they are burned on a CD as a music CD they are no longer DRMed.

iTunes music store is convenient but they have a bad (read: no) system for people who lose their files.

[Klaus Kinski]

Great news! (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1469?viewlocale=en_US)
Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

[Llama Gibbz]

I have no ipod so i cant comment on syncing and recovering files this way.

If you dont want a ipod or want to use the music anytime anywhere and on any device.
Burn the purchased music to a audio disc and rip it as a MP3 or whatever you like.
You will take a quality hit though.

1.No as long as the player supports AAC.
However im not sure how syncing DRMed AAC files to other players will work.(if at all)

2.Some is DRM free

3.I havent had a hard drive problem for a few years,so this info may have changed.

If you back up your itunes music folder.
Itunes will reauthorize your purchase library.
However you can only do this a limited amount of times.

If you have a ipod im going to assume itunes will reauthorize your library this way also also.
(i think Klaus Kinski's support link proved me wrong?)

4.No clue

[Steve]

Cheers guys. :)

[ShadeEX]

If you buy iTunes Plus albums / songs it will be DRM free and encoded with 256Kbps

You can burn backups of your playlists in iTunes to CD that's how I've backed up my Music so far, that and you can burn regular Music CDs too ofcource.

Like Mr.Fibbels already mentioned