DRM Protected M4P, WMA, M4B and MP3

M4P is the Protected AAC File. AAC is the audio layer from the follow-on format to MP3 (see .M4A extension). The .M4P extension is AAC purchased from Apple's Music Store (iTune) and is protected by a Digital Rights Management scheme. MP4 files encrypted by FairPlay DRM as sold through Tunes Store use .m4p extension. M4P is for the DRM protected content in iTunes Store, while m4a is for the DRM-free, unprotected content.

iTunes Store sells billions of M4P songs every year, accounting for more than 80% of worldwide online digital music sales, most of the songs are in the format of m4p. And these m4p songs are limited by Apple on the usage. That’s why so many m4p music owners are seeking solutions to free their purchased songs.

WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The original WMA codec, known simply as WMA, was conceived as a competitor to the popular MP3 and RealAudio codecs. Apart from Windows Media Player, the WMA format can be played using MPlayer, RealPlayer, Winamp (with certain limitations—DSP plugin support and DirectSound output is disabled using the default WMA plugin), and many other software media players. The Microsoft Zune media management software supports most WMA codecs, but uses a variation of Windows Media DRM which is used by PlaysForSure.

MP3's use of a lossy compression algorithm is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording and still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio for most listeners, but is not considered high fidelity audio by most audiophiles.

An MP3 file that is created using the mid-range bitrate setting of 128 kbit/s will result in a file that is typically about 1/10th the size of the CD file created from the original audio source. An MP3 file can also be constructed at higher or lower bitrates, with higher or lower resulting quality. The compression works by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the auditory resolution ability of most people.

DRM Protected M4P to MP3, DRM WMA to MP3

Microsoft initially claimed that WMA delivers the same quality of MP3 at half the bit rate; Microsoft also claimed that WMA delivers "CD-quality" audio at 64 kbit/s. The former claim however was rejected by some audiophiles according to EDN. RealNetworks also challenged Microsoft's claims regarding WMA's superior audio quality compared to RealAudio

Microsoft first announced its plans to license WMA technology to third-parties in 1999. Although earlier versions of Windows Media Player played WMA files, support for WMA file creation was not added until the seventh version. In 2003, Microsoft released new audio codecs which were not compatible with the original WMA codec.

NoteBurner Protected WMA to MP3 Audio Converter is well known for its magic fast converting speed and its capability of converting DRM WMA protected audio files to MP3, WMA and WAV, especially convert M4P to MP3.

Youc can now free download NoteBurner Audio Converter to convert DRM protected music to MP3, DRM protected WMA to MP3, M4P to MP3, or M4B to MP3. With the program, you can also convert all types of DRM-free audio files to MP3, WMA and WAV at fast speed.

You might be aware that iPod users are restricted from transferring their music to other non-Apple devices because the music downloaded from iTunes is encrypted - locked with DRM. It allows you to write an audio CD, but if you ever want to take your music to a new portable device in a compressed format, you will end up with very lousy sound quality. These drawbacks are of course there for a reason: customer lock-in. Apple inconveniences its customers into binding themselves to Apple products.

This type of nuisance is but the foreshadow of greater ones to come. Standing behind the technology companies, the film and music industry (Big Media) loom large. To increase their control, they demand technology companies impose DRM. The technology companies no longer resist. Of course many of the technology companies now see themselves as part of Big Media. Sony is a film and music company, Microsoft is an owner of MSNBC, and Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, sits on the board of Disney. These technology companies cannot be expected to serve the interests of the technology consumer.