Transcoding iTMS files to mp3

Now that I have the Squeezebox I want to be able to stream all those groovy tunes I've purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store from my computer to the stereo.

While the Squeezebox can stream AAC format music files, it can't decode Apple's Digital Rights Management technology (while not wanting to get into a rant here on that subject, I have to believe, or at least hope, that eventually DRM on content will go the way of copy-protected software disks).

But I am happy to report that the iTunes LAME encoder can read files with Apple's DRM and stream them to the Squeezebox, or transcode them into regular mp3 files, at the bit-rate of your choosing. It's not fast, but it's certainly easier (and less wasteful of plastic) than burning the tunes to CD and ripping them again.