Re: [Banshee-List] red circle on iPod tracks

["Sanford Armstrong" <sanfordarmstrong gmail com>]

On 11/5/06, Gabriel Burt <gabriel burt gmail com> wrote:
> On 11/5/06, Charles Herman <cherman wildblue net> wrote:
> > I am using banshee 0.11.2 on SUSE 10.1.  When I use Banshee to listen to
> > my iPod, I have noticed that some tracks have a solid red circle at the
> > far left of the track  line.  This red circle has a white exclamation
> > mark in its center.  The problem is that I cannot play these tracks.
> > What is the  significance of this red circle?  In particular, what do I
> > need to do to be able to listen to these tracks?
>
> It means you were a sucker and bought DRM'd music.  See
> http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ for more information.

In other words, Banshee cannot play music purchased from the iTunes
Music Store because those files are protected by DRM.  On Windows
there is a tool called QTFairUse6 that can remove the DRM from these
tracks.  Otherwise, your only option would be to use iTunes to burn an
Audio CD, then rerip that CD into unprotected MP3 (or AAC or ogg)
files, which may result in some loss of quality.

The defectivebydesign.org site lists music stores that sell plain
unprotected non-DRM music files; unfortunately, those stores do not
have the same selection as iTunes.  You may be better off buying CDs
for such music.

Sandy