Itunes files protected (DJ)

Question

So long story short, i need to use song files and i need to be able to change the formats. (mp3, mp4, etc.) I use a program called serato scratch live that allows me to play music through my turn tables using my mac.
i am able to rip music onto itunes, as well as, d/l from other online stores. The problem is that i purchased a couple hundred songs and now i can't use them. The only way that i found was to burn them and then rip them back onto itunes. That would be great if the sound quality didn't go down.
So, my question would be is there a third party application that can be used on my Mac that would allow me to get/have "rights"? And/or an easier way than burn/rip?
Thank you for listening.
Also, if there is an Apple pesonnel that is reading this, there are over 100,000 djs in the US alone and they dont use itunes for this simple problem, Apple is one of the only online stores that do not give paying customers rights to the music. It is the sole decision of apple and not that of the record labels. So as advice, you can only imagine how much money could be made off djs alone considering the billions of songs they d/l.

Answer 1

Absolutely correct, Dave. As an industry professional, the term we use for this is "perfomance rights".
Here in the US, the three performance rights societies are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Every songwriter MUST associate with one of the three. They grant businesses the permission they need to perform music publicly.
These organizations have representatives scour bars, clubs, retail stores, hotels, restaurants, etc., to see if they have current public performance licenses in place if music is being played. If not, fines can be substantial. Even radio stations must apply for a blanket license with these organizations if they wish to play music to fill in the period of time between commercials.
As far as DRM as a whole is concerned, it's not solely the record companies this protects, but also the songwriters and music publishers (who control the underlying compositions of the recording) as well.
To the original poster: (assuming all public performance licenses are in place...)
Unfortunately, to use iTMS purchases through ScratchLIVE involves burning an audio disc and re-importing into iTunes into one of their supported formats, thus a slight degradation in sound quality. (albeit marginal compared to what the human ear is capable of discerning)
If most of your concern lies with the quality being degraded, the alternative would be to either purchase the actual CD, or subscribe to professional DJ services which issue promotional compilations to their clients for airplay.
Stripping the FairPlay DRM from the iTMS tracks is not an option.
Steve