If it’s already in MP3 format, of course, no conversion is needed and it’s ready to copy onto my microSD card. In this case, it’s “ Purchased AAC audio file“. The program shows the cover art, genre and kind. In the above, notice on the left that I’ve chosen my “Purchased” playlist, and from that I’ve clicked on the title track. To be fair, it’s not particularly elegant with its interface, but everything you need is shown. I opted for Mac and here’s the main window once launched: There are versions for either Mac or Windows PC systems, both available through a quick download from their site. No bueno for this particular use case.Įnter the easy to use Apple Music Converter program. It is, of course, important to support musicians, composers and production companies so that we will continue to have great music down the road too, but that means all the music I’ve purchased is locked down and only playable within iTunes, and only that after I’ve logged in to my Apple Music account. The idea of copying my favorite 100 albums onto a flash drive and then having them always available for listening, whether I have my phone or not, is very appealing.īut all my recent music are purchases from the iTunes Store. On the Mazda the slots were just tucked in a recess of the dashboard, next to the microSD card reader (that’s only for the navigational system data, unfortunately): Look at all modern cars and you’ll find a USB 3.0 slot or two where you can plug in your phone and charge it, or you can plug in a device that just contains your music collection. And yet this issue came up again when I was test driving the brand new 2016 Mazda CX-5, because it has support for something that is only usable if you have music without DRM: USB plugs perfect for a flash drive full of music!

Rent a movie on your Apple TV and it’s no big deal: you rent it, watch it, and you’re done.īut what if you want to listen to that brand new album on something other than an Apple product? To do that, you need to defeat what’s known as the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system, and that’s a bit of a gray area unfortunately. I’ve always been a proponent of buy once, play anywhere with my music and movies, but unfortunately most of the digital distribution systems have a very different philosophy, choosing to dramatically limit the functionality of the music, audio books and even movies and TV shows you purchase to within their own little world.

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