This is a stupid bully move by Apple. Why limit one of the better burning software titles out there? What the heck difference does it make if Toast makes the CD instead of iTunes?

How do you know Apple wanted it to happen?

Hey as long as I can keep archiving my newfangled digital music onto cassette tapes, I'll be happy.

Quote

Anonymous wrote:
How do you know Apple wanted it to happen?

Quote

Article wrote:
"Following discussions with Apple, this version will no longer allow customers to create audio CDs, audio DVDs, or export audio to their hard drive using purchased iTunes music store content."

I suppose Apple COULD have been trying to talk them out of doing this, but it really looks like it's the other way around.

As for why...was there some issue I didn't know about where you could use Toast to burn as many copies as you wanted to or something? If so, you'd think they could simply change Toast so that it had the same rules as iTunes. Just dropping the ability to burn at all seems odd.

This actually has the smell of the RIAA all over it. Those greedy, stinking bastards. I doubt seriously that Apple is going to restrict any function that is in support of their cash cow.

I'm still using Toast Titanium 6.0.9 but since Tiger/iTunes 4.8 I can't burn CDs with Toast. Me thinks iTunes and/or Tiger might be involved in this also.

What advantage could Apple possibly gain from this, though? iTunes is freeware to begin with, and Toast can't access the iTMS. It's not exactly a competitor.

The following steps are all legal, can be done, and are completely within the realm of probability. NOT.

1. Each artist sets up his/her own website. Hey, they do that anyway.
2. Each artist starts their own digital music store to give away or sell music
3. Each artist becomes responsible for all aspects of marketing, touring, production and distribution of their product
4. Each artist handles all aspects of promotion.
5. Each artist pays for his/her own travel
6. Each artist hires a royalties collection firm.
7. Each artist hires their own accounting firms and auditing firms to pay for EVERYTHING listed above not to mention their payrolls, taxes, and insurance.
8. Each artist spends 23 hours a day handling their business functions, including foreign trademark and copyright issues, and 1 hour a day actually producing their product.

Gee. Sign me up.

And I'm not even a fan of the RIAA. I just like to listen to music.

Roxio's statement makes it seem like Apple was the one to pull the plug on iTMS/iTunes integration, but the wording is very neutral.

I don't recall, but didn't Sonic Solutions made a considerable investment in Roxio (now Napster), when they bought the software unit last year?

Seems to me that would be all the reason in the world to stop supporting iTMS purchases.

Tiger - your sarcasm shows such little understanding of how many middle men there have been in the industry for about 40 or so more years now.

It's not the actual existence of the RIAA that is bad. It is how all the stuff is managed and how the RIAA abuses it's reach and power.

Some paychecks see parts of it go about 8 or 9 different ways BEFORE seeing the artists' hands.

So yes, artists ARE enabled to do a lot these days and frankly, with the internet/phone connections we have now, it takes less shaking of hands, and more just a chat to set up shows. It's not that hard, especially when you cut a deal with a company that owns a lot of venues (like that wonderful beast Clear Channel) ... even so, even small venues have their own website/form to fill out for shows. Again, it does not need to take more than 5 people to do one job.

Steps 1, 2, 6, 7 are one time deals, with monthly/quarterly phone conferencing or personal meetings.

Steps 3,4 are the same thing. Use your brain.

Step 8 is ludicrous. Again, not very keen on what the real world is like, are you?

Here's a link to a great example of what can be done by an individual:
http://www.indiemusician.com/

Again, it's not that the RIAA doesn't need to exist, or can't exist, it's that it has abused it's powers over and over again. I've seen one too many artist bend over for a label/company because of the power that the label/company has handed to them by the RIAA.

Lets face it. We as consumers have a good thing right now with iTMS, and the iPod. Personally, I don't see Apple wanting it to end any time soon, and neither do we. However, we all know that record companies are chomping at the bit to 1) raise prices on downloaded music to squeeze every last ounce out of the consumers that they can, and 2)do everything possible to ensure that their "property" is not stolen so that they can do #1. The simple fact of the matter is that Apple is in bed with the devil, and the Devil's name is the RIAA. If they (Apple) have to mitigate possibilities of DRM being defeated by other developers' products and negotiate this feature out...I can live with it as long as the iTMS keeps on chugging at $.99/song and $9.99 album.

I found a way around this!!!!
I still use Toast Titanium 5.2.3
It still records music bought for the Apple store with no problems.

Apple may have requested the change because it's contracts with record labels are tied to the Fairplay restrictions on burning CD's. Toast almost certainly allowed a user to bypass any such limits.

Like it or not, when buying music from iTunes users agree to abide by the limitations on the number of times a playlist is burned. If Toast supported an easy workaround, the labels could make an issue of it.

I agree that disabling a function of Toast when it is not necessarily used to thwart the DRM sucks, but iTMS has to keep the labels happy to survive.

around this. All it won't do is record Apple ACC files. There are many different formats, some better than ACC. Do the math.

And it was Apple's decision to bind iTunes to protect their cash cow.

It appears as if the 4.8 update of itunes changd the DRM so you can now burn unlimited copies of songs through itunes instead of the 7 copies that they used to have.