Ok, lets get some free music from iTunes.

• First: Getting free iTunes music from Pepsi.

(This idea was originally posted on MacMerc.com)

Pepsi has stated they believe they will have to pay for about 1/3 of the 100 million songs it's giving away. Since we are the ones who want the music.. Lets use some tricks to bring that average up!

First you must find a place that carries the new pepsi bottles, look for the yellow caps. Diet Pepsi, Pepsi and Sierra Mist all have them. Unfortunetly this hack doesnt work on Pepsi machines, because you actually have to hold the bottle before you know if it is a winner or not.

Use the images as a guide.

The secret is the angle. I've found it to be 25º, but that's really no use when you're out in the field. Just tilt it until it seems about that, and look up towards it (hold it above your head). With luck, you should be able to see under the cap. Here's what a loser looks like:

It's easiest to read "again" and tag the losers because there are no random letters involved. If you don't see again and you have given the bottle a twist (to check from all angles), make a purchase. If not, hit the shelf.

You might find it easiest to practice while not in the store. Just buy a few and take them home. Get the knack for the angle, and it isn't that hard to pull off without looking like a huge tool.

• Second: 5 Free Songs from Paypal

This is much less of a "trick" and more a promotion. Right now paypal is offering 5 free iTunes downloads..

All you have to do is:

• Sign up for an iTunes account.
• Choose PayPal as your payment method on iTunes, and be sure you have a credit card associated with your PayPal account. Your new account will automatically be credited with five free songs.

Thats all you have to do.. =) I don't know how long this promotion will last, so do it now! If you are reading this and PayPal no longer is running this promotion, then you missed out.

• Third: Wartuning

Ok, this one will be quite an accomplishment if you actually find the song you are looking for.. But I am going to throw it in here anyway. Scott Moschella (of plastic bugs) named this certain hack. He wrote:

WarTuning : Wardrive using your WiFi enabled laptop to listen to (download?) other people's shared music through iTunes.

Well we are going to take it one step further. Using a program called ourTunes and wardriving we are going to download music from peoples iTunes. OurTunes searches your network for open iTune shares. So if you are on a college network.. Well I envy you, you are pretty much set for life I would image. I however no longer get to enjoy the college networks, so I am loading up my favorite wardriving gear, installing ourTunes and hitting the road. As you can see below, in a few seconds I found a hit.. Browse the songs and see if there are any you like..

Downloading Dead of Alive's "You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)" makes me a Haxor.

Highlight any you want and click download.. Yes it is that easy.

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Ok, you got your music.. Lets rip the DRM out of it & convert it for use on our Non-Ipod Mp3 Player
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Not sure if you have noticed, but there are VERY FEW players that can play music that you have downloaded from iTunes. Lets see there is the Ipod, The Ipod Shuffle, the PhotoIpod... (seeing a trend?) Well what happens if you want to play your purchased (or otherwise acquired) iTunes files? Well you will need to rip the DRM out of it, and then convert it to a format your player can handle.

What is DRM:

DRM or Digital Rights Management is the section of the file that controls the ability for the file to be shared, burned, played, etc.. Apple's DRM has few details, but this page gives a good breakdown. It basically boils down to:

• Protected AAC files have the extension: .m4p -- ripped AAC files are .m4a
• Unlimited CD Burning of Protected AACs
• Only the iPod and Apple's iTunes, and it seems Quicktime-based apps currently allow playing of these Protected AAC's.
• Up to three computers (at one time) can be authorized to play Purchased AAC's. Deauthorizing your computer and reauthorzing new computers is relatively simple
• Playlists containing any Protected AAC's can only be burned 10 times. You must change the list manually before you can burn again. [ Tech Note ]

To Remove DRM we are going to utilize a tool called Hymn. Download it here.

From Hymn's Site
The purpose of the Hymn Project is to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law. The various software provided on this web site allows you to free your iTunes Music Store purchases (protected AAC / .m4p) from their DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality . These songs can then be played outside of the iTunes environment, even on operating systems not supported by iTunes and on hardware not supported by Apple.

As you can see above, I have located and downloaded a file called: "Dead of Alive-Rip It Up-05 - You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record).m4p". As you can see by the m4p extention, this file is protected with iTunes DRM. I need to remove this protection so I can play it on my computer.

Open Hymn and drag the file into it. Set the "Convert locked .m4p to:" whatever you want, I am converting mine to mp3.

After you have changed the settings hit convert, it will connect to iTunes to download the key files and then rip the DRM out of the file, then convert to mp3 so I can upload it to my non-iPod mp3 player.