With the purpose to download Apple Music files for playback on my portable iPod Shuffle, I subscribed Apple Music student plan with 50% discount. After downloaded them, I have realized that all Apple Music downloads are encoded with advanced audio recording in M4P file extension. Is there an effective way to convert Apple Music DRM M4P to unprotected AAC files for unlimited listening?
Apple Music tracks can be playable on Apple-authorized devices and music player only. If you'd like to get rid of the bondage from Apple ecosystem, the best way is to convert Apple Music songs to other common audio formats. Obviously, AAC seems a nice option as it could be recognized by almost all devices. In this article, we will share the workable workaround to extract DRM-free AAC files from Apple Music losslessly.
Part 1. Best Apple Music M4P to AAC Converter You'll Need
To avoid unauthorized sharing for protecting the benefit of digital media owner and publisher, Apple applies FairPlay DRM technology in its all media files, like Apple Music, audiobooks, TV shows, movies, etc. irrespective of whether you have subscribed its premium plan or purchased digital files legally, you have no rights to access to protected files on other devices not supported by Apple.
Since Apple Music streams feature FairPlay digital management rights, you can't use a common M4P to AAC converter to transfer Apple Music M4P songs to AAC. By contrast, you need a professional M4P converter for Apple Music that can not only unlock DRM technology but also convert Apple Music M4P to unprotected M4A format with ease.
Here, we highly recommend AudFree Apple Music to AAC Converter to help you make Apple Music available on any device. By adopting special DRM decryption technology, this full-feature AudFree DRM Audio Converter works well to convert Apple Music to AAC, M4A, MP3, etc. when removing DRM lock at the same time with zero quality loss. It can run at 30X faster speed with all ID3 tags preserved.
Part 2. Quick Tutorial to Convert DRM M4P to AAC Losslessly
With this brilliant audio converter for Apple Music, you can encode Apple Music M4P to AAC in batch, which can save your lots of time. Even if you are a newbie in using such software, you can easily make it work perfectly.
- Step 1Add Apple Music M4P to AudFree Audio Converter
- Before loading Apple Music files to AudFree program, please make sure you have downloaded all audio tracks in iTunes. And then you can choose to drag and drop Apple Music songs to the main interface or click the first 'Add Files' button to select music from iTunes library and load them to AudFree.
- Step 2Set output format as AAC for exporting
- When Apple Music tracks you'd like to convert to AAC are imported successfully, you can click the 'audio' icon to open the setting window. In the new window, you can direct set AAC as the output format for exporting Apple Music to AAC files. In addition, you can customize other audio parameters, like bit rate, sample rate, etc. as you like.
- Step 3Remove DRM and Convert Apple Music to AAC
- The last step is to launch the converting process. To do this, you just need to simply press the 'Convert' button at the bottom-right corner, this smart tool will automatically bypass DRM limitation and convert added M4P Apple Music to AAC format. After conversion, you can click the 'file' icon to locate all Apple Music AAC files on your computer.
Part 3. What's AAC/M4A/M4P & M4A vs M4P
There are lots of people confusing on the differences among AAC, M4A and M4P. So in the end of this article, we will also give the detailed introductions to them clearly.
What's AAC
As the successor to the MP3 format, AAC (well-known as Advanced Audio Coding) is the audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression according to Wikipedia. Similar with MP3 format, but it comes with better sound quality at the same bit rate.
What's M4A
Created by Apple, M4A is a file extension used in QuickTime audio files, which applies AAC audio coding without DRM protection. iTunes music purchased and downloaded after 2009 is encoded in M4A format, which could be playable on all devices without problem.
What's M4P
Being same with M4A, M4P is also a file extension owned by Apple for an audio file encoded in AAC. But it also features FairPlay DRM technology. As consequence, Apple Music files can't transfer to other portable devices for playback.
M4P vs M4A
Form the complete introduction, let's make a short conclusion about M4P vs M4A. Audio files encoded in protected AAC could be called M4P file extension, while unprotected AAC audio tracks are M4A. You can enjoy M4A (non-DRM AAC) files on any music player and devices, such as iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, etc. But M4P Apple Music streams can be played on selected platforms with Apple ID.
To listen to Apple Music anywhere without limit, it could be a nice choice to convert Apple Music DRM M4P files to unprotected AAC (M4A). So, just use the AudFree Apple Music Converter to break Apple Music lock now.
James Blair
Staff Editor
