How To Break iTunes DRM LEGALLY

Apple doesn't really tell you how easy it is to circumvent the DRM of songs purchased from the iTunes music store for obvious reasons. All you need to do is burn your downloaded songs to CD in Audio CD format then reimport them into iTunes in the DRM-Free format of your choice. It's a slight pain but easy enough that anyone can do it. All you need is a CD-RW (although a CD-R would work too its just not reusable) and a little time.

One Time Setup: Access iTunes' preference dialog via the Edit menu. Select the Advanced tab and then within the Advanced tab select the Burning tab. Select the Audio CD radio box, and pick no gaps between songs. Switch to the Importing tab. Select MP3 encoder from the Import Using drop down and 192kbps in the Setting drop down.

Freeing Your Songs:
First group the songs you wish to "free" into a playlist. Remember you're only gonna be able to fit about 15 songs on a CD in CD Audio format, so you might have to make multiple playlists if converting a large number of songs. Next insert your CD-RW disc. Select the playlist you wish to burn and press the Burn Disc button in the lower right of the iTunes window.

When the CD burn completes it will show up in the iTunes left hand navigation with a CD icon next to it. Click on the CD entry to highlight it, then press the Import CD button in the lower right of the iTunes window. That's it. When the import has finished you will have DRM free MP3s of the songs you purchased from the iTunes store stored in the same location as the original iTunes file.

Remember if you convert as you buy it's much less time consuming than waiting till later ;)