Most songs sold through the iTunes Store are encoded using FairPlay-encrypted 128 kbits/s AAC streams in an MP4 wrapper, using M4P extension. Apple has maintained tight control of its FairPlay encryption. Other online music stores cannot sell music files encoded with FairPlay. This means that consumers who want to listen to songs downloaded from the iTunes Store must either have an iPod or convert the files to an open format. There are two ways to convert M4P music to MP3. One way is to use itunes for sophisticated computer user, another way is to use third party program for beginner, which is much easier.

Part one: Using itunes to converting M4p music

Step 1: Run iTunes and set burner options firstly. You can choose Edit>Preferences>Advanced>Burning menu and then select your CD burner.

Note: If you don't have a physical burner, you may use a virtual burner program, NoteBurner. Go to it official website to download the program. After you install it, you can choose NoteBurner Virtual CD-RW as what you do in the first step.

Step 2: Create a new playlist in iTunes and add all m4p files you want to convert to this new list.

Note: If you use NoteBurner, you need to select the output format in NoteBurner. After you click Settings button, you can set the output as MP3, WAV and WMA.

Step 3: Click Burn Disc button in iTunes to starting the burning. If you use NoteBurner, this is the final step since the program can rip back the burned music automatically. The output folder will be open automatically after all music finishes encoding.

Note: If you burn the m4p files on real CD, you need to rip the music back in iTunes. Open iTunes Edit>Preferences>Advanced menu and click small Importing tab inside the Advanced tab to choose "WAV encoder" or "AIFF Encoder" in the "Import Using" dropdown. In the left-hand panel under "Devices", select the CD that you burned

Step 4: In the main window opposite, deselect any CD track(s) you do not want to convert. Right-click or control-click over them, and choose the "convert to AIFF" or "convert to WAV" option.

Step 5: After the conversion, you may find the converted file at C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorMy DocumentsMy MusiciTunesiTunes Music

Part two: Using third party program to convert M4p music

Comparing to the previous method, the following is more simple and easier, you can finish the job with just several clicks.

Step 1: Free download M4P Converter, install and run it.

Step 2: Clicking "Add" or directly drag-drop protected M4P files. Batch M4P to MP3 conversion supported.

Step 3: In the "Setting" button, choose MP3 format (*.mp3), you can also custom the music.

Step 4: Click the "Start" button to start converting M4P to MP3. After successful converting M4P to MP3, the result shall be stored on the "Output path" folder. Then you can use them for playing without any limitation.