by Calvin Robinson on November 1, 2008.

It’s a big deal for me lol. I can’t remember the last time I paid for music!

I bought the X Factor – Heroes song, both because I like it, and to support the cause.

I have no idea why a charity is even needed in this case though. If the government forms an army and sends these men to war, shouldn’t the government then pay for their treatment and rehabilitation if they get injured in said war?! Damn, such a cold world.

I don’t own a CD player, so I figured buying the CD would be a waste of time – I’d only end up ripping it onto my PC so I could actually play it. So I decided to buy the tune on my iPhone. Buying the track was nice and easy.

I have a Windows installation on an old desktop in the corner of the room, so I fired that up to find the music file and send it across to my Ubuntu desktop. Now here was the bloody annoying part…
The file was m4p format… Apple’s flipping DRM solution. Here was me thinking Apple had ditched DRM. I remember reading all the digg stories about how Apple was DRM-free now, and it was catching up with others like Amazon and AllofMP3 etc. Well, it must only be certain tracks or something.
I couldn’t even find a DRM-free option. So it was time to find a m4p-to-mp3 converter. Ugh.

m4p-mp3.com had a nice tutorial layout, with a simple file to download. But this damn trial only allows for the converting on 3minute clips. There was no way I would pay twenty something pounds for this software, to crack a 79pence track lol. So I headed over to Astalavista for the crack.

Once I got the program cracked, it was quite nice. Allowed me to encode in 300kbps mp3 or 100quality ogg. Leet. So I’m now the midly-happy owner of two 100q oggs of the X Factor – Heroes single.

What a bloody hassle though! I don’t think I’ll be buying any more music any time soon. Unless BBC Children in Need release a pro single or something.
I’m all for supporting charities and good music. It’s just the RIAA and their UK equivalent (BPI) that I can’t stand.

[Update]
I’ve just found that the song is available on Play.com too, but in mp3 format and quite a bit cheaper.
I wonder if there’s come crappy DRM? I assume not, Play.com are quite reputable.