A Few Intemperate Words
Published September 13, 2005
Holy Balls of Fuck!
This copy protection stuff has gotten way out of hand! This has been written about and discussed thousands of times all over the internet (and many times here in the Blogcritics archives). I am ready to start a new flame war on the subject.
I just bought the new Switchfoot CD, Nothing is Sound. It took 15 minutes or more of searching and a software download to get the fucking CD on my iPod. In fairness to Apple, I could have just waited until I got home and used my PowerBook. But I am at work now and I want to hear my new CD and I want to hear it on my own terms on my own iPod. So I spent 15 minutes researching the issue and downloading a free application called CDEx.
The good news? CDEx worked and I am now listening to the new Switchfoot CD (I like it so far and plan to write a review directly).
I know there are a lot of you out there who tell me I am part of the problem because I buy the tampered with discs. And you're right. But I do not want to cut off my nose to spite my face. I don't want to just not buy the music. I love my CD collection. I love music more than I do most people (yeah, I have a future date with a therapist or twelve).
So I buy the inferior product and grouse about its inferiority. It seems as though I have poor choices. Buy the iTunes version AND the CD? Expensive. Buy one or the other... that comes with complications. Buy neither? I have nothing. This is intolerable. I am thankful that as I scoot past the halfway point of Nothing is Sound it was worth the trouble.
Sony music must still feel my wrath. To aid in that... here is how you get Nothing is Sound on your iPod if you are a PC user (prior to inserting the disc in your machine):
1) Download CDEx 1.51. Type in CDEx in GOOGLE and you will be able to find it. Installation is straightforward.
2) Hold SHIFT key down as you insert the Switchfoot CD in your computer.
3) Use CDEx to rip your CD. You can rip it to WAV and then to AAC (as I did) or you can use the application to rip directly to MP3 (whichever you prefer).
4) Move your files to your iPod using iTunes.
For his judgment cometh, and that right soon!
Discuss.
Josh Hathaway is Assistant Music Editor for BC Magazine. He is formerly an award-winning journalist and broadcaster and publishes the BC Network site Confessions of a Fanboy .- A Few Intemperate Words
- Published: September 13, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Music: Rock
- Writer: Josh Hathaway
- Josh Hathaway's BC Writer page
- Josh Hathaway's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Which model are you considering? iPods are the best things ever. I am on my 5th.
I bought the DualDisc from Target and was able to put it on my iPod without all the hastle. The DVD portion is worth the extra few bucks, IMO. Great album, BTW!
Tim, thanks for checking in. I THOUGHT I had picked up the DD version- I was in for a disappointing surprise when I got to work. Glad you enjoyed the extras.
What are you thinking about the album so far?
THank you so much man... i spent over a half hour trying to get teh stupid thing to work... (excuse the typing) you have dopne a good deed and Who in the world won't let ya rip off of wmp JEEZ!
The key is to disable Autorun in Windows before inserting any of these copy-protected discs. Here are a number of methods for the various Windows incarnations out there. No Autorun = no install of the evil DLL that prevents copying. However, if you already used the disc in the computer before disabling Autorun, the copy-protection is on there. You will have to go to greater lengths to remove it. This site tells you how to get it off of your computer.
is there some legal hooey we 'agreed' to just by the fact that we opened the cd package and inserted the disc into the computer?
it really, really pisses me of when software gets installed on my work computer without my permission.
It's almost as if the record companies would rather we just download the albums with eDonkey or such, and not give them any money at all. That's what they deserve even just for their hostility to their customers.
Even the Switchfoot guys hate this. See their response here
Oh crap! Wrong link for above comment. Sorry! Here's the correct one
You're my hero...I bought the CD today and sat here pissed for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get in onto Itunes. The cute thing is the readme file mentions Itunes and says it won't play right on it if you try it. ARGH! Idiot RIAA
I just can't believe the blatant greed by Switchfoot.....if you spend more money on the dualdisc, the copy protection conveniently disappears. Are they really in that much need of an extra few dollars? I guess they have to pay off their hummers so I should just quiet down.
Well I got the dualdisc version and STILL can't play it on my computer. I do have a Sony DVD player. Thats probably why.
Thank you so much for posting this. A great thing to know for anyone who has also bought Phantoms by Acceptance.
I did what you said but when i imported it into itunes it was all fuzzy, is there a way to fix this. (I think it had to do when ripping it in CDEx it says: Jitter (errors:557 sumthin))
Jitter error is probably a hardware issue - your CDRom drive more than it is an issue with the software. I have not run into that myself.
Isn, please read what the band has to say about it (Tim's link) before you carelessly pass judgement. The band didn't agree to have the copy protection, it was the label's doing.. and the band fought it more openly than any other artist.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/36086)
I'll need to know this when I buy an ipod later this year...
Thanks!