September 7, 2004

MyTunes - how to remove the DRM on iTunes Music Store tracks

One thing I forgot in the excitement yesterday of buying music online was the whole DRM issue - dubious restrictive munging, or digital rights management. One of the tricks that the recording industry use to make life difficult for the honest punter, under the disguise of protecting their interests.

I like to listen to my music on my hifi in the lounge, and I have a linux laptop set up for the task. I muttered some rude words when I realised the track I bought yesterday can't be played under linux because of the DRM.

Well, actually, yes it can, if you remove the DRM. Here's how to do it on an OS X machine:


  • Download and install Mono from the go-mono web site.

  • Download FairKeys from Jon Johansen's web site

  • Compile FairKeys by running the make.sh script

  • Run FairKeys by typing: mono FairKeys <AppleID> <password>. You should now have your keys in a directory .drms

  • Download DeDRMS from Jon's web site

  • Compile by typing: mcs -out:DeDRMS.exe *.cs

  • Run DeDRMS by typing: mono DeDRMS.exe file.m4p (where file.m4p is the name of your DRMed music file)

That's it! You can now play the music on other platforms. Note that although the DRM has been stripped, your Apple ID stays in the file, so don't go uploading it to file-sharing networks. Fair use, not misuse.

Oh, and if you're one of those lucky people that have an iPod, you can use hymn instead.

Posted by savs at September 7, 2004 8:37 PM