Over the years I’ve built up a large iTunes library. I was there at the start. I converted songs from CDs, bought digital music from multiple sources, and still try to “rip” all my CDs the moment I buy them, or download digital versions. I’ve also gone through multiple computers since the debut of iTunes. Every now and then I run into the problem that plagued early iTunes adopters: the dreaded proprietary format Apple created to stave off piracy so that records companies would embrace digital tunes.
I ran across this tonight, when trying to listen to a song that I’d played countless times. All of a sudden I needed to “authorize” the song. This is an artifact of bygone times, but as the format cannot be converted, even though I now only have one computer where I play my music, I had to re-authorize this computer. I know that I have several hundred songs in this same format, and at some point, that format no longer will be recognized by the device that I choose to play my music. At that point I’ll need to selectively re-purchase the same songs that I supposedly “own” but don’t really own. A computer company owns that digital file, and I’m merely allowed to use it.
