Different ways of removing DRM protection from iTunes music on Windows and Mac OS X. You can choose any of them to unlock the DRMed iTunes music songs for various MP3/MP4 players and mobile phones rather than limiting them to iPod and iPhone. Go and have your iTunes liberated!

Since iTunes store tops the music retailer in the world, the following tutorial focuses on how to convert purchased iTunes M4P music to MP3, WAV or unprotected WMA so as to import it to Windows Movie Maker project as background music. The tutorial is composed of the following four parts:
Part 1. Something about Windows Movie Maker
Part 2. Remove DRM from iTunes music on Win
Part 3. Add the output DRM-free music to Windows Movie Maker
Part 4: Free remove iTunes DRM music on Mac

Part 1. Something about Windows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker is a totally free program that comes with Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista. Below are the audio/video formats accepted by Windows Movie Maker:
Video files: .asf, .avi, .wmv
Movie files: MPEG1, .mpeg, .mpg, .mlv, .mp2
Audio files: .wav, .snd, .au, .aif, .aifc, .aiff
Windows media files: .asf, .wm, .wma, .wmv
MP3 format audio: .mp3

Part 2. Remove DRM from iTunes music

The songs you purchased from iTunes store are under DRM protection. You cannot directly import them to your Windows Movie Maker project. However you can burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. And iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You'd better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.
2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.
3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

The steps are very simple indeed. Yet, I'd like to introduce a practical application called Daniusoft Digital Music Converter. You can use it to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. You can learn how to remove DRM from iTunes M4P music from following guide:

Stpe 1: Download and install the DRM Removal Software

Stpe 2: Run the software and click “Add…” button to load MP3, WMA, AAC, MPA ...files

Step 3: Please select “Convert to” list to choose output formats.

Stpe 4: You can click “Settings” button to custom preference for output files.
Click “Settings” button next to “Convert to” list for protected audio files

Step 5: Start remove DRM and convert your DRM protected musics by click on “Start” button.
Output Formats List:

Part 3. Add the output DRM-free music to Windows Movie Maker

After you get the output DRM-free music by adopting either the disc burning/ripping method or virtual CD burning method discussed in Part 2, now you can begin to import it into your Windows Movie Maker project.

Click on File. Then click on Import. A window will appear. In the window, navigate to the sound or music file you want to add to your movie. Then double click on the file. You'll see the icon for the file in your Windows Movie Maker "collections". Click on the icon and drag it on to the timeline to the part of the video you want the sound or music to play.

Part 4: Remove iTunes DRM with Apple software in Leopard
The current iteration of iMovie released with the iLife '08 software bundle is iMovie 7.1. However, in order to remove DRM protection, you will need iMovie HD - previously bundled with iLife '06. Once downloaded and installed, start iMovie HD and 'Create a New Project' titled "DRM-free". Save the project to your Desktop.

In the iMovie window, select the 'Media' tab located between 'Themes' and 'Editing'. You will notice that the top right portion of the interface now offers a media browser. Select the 'Audio' tab and locate the playlist which contains purchased music, or search by artist / title.

Select the DRM-laden song and drag the file from the media browser into the iMovie timeline where it says "Drag audio here to build your project."
In order to export the song, iMovie requires that a visual image be associated with the audio track - iMovie thinks that it is going to be exporting a movie. Simply drag a blank image (or any other image) to the track above the previously imported audio file. Once iMovie has processed the image, select the 'Share…' sub menu item from found inside 'Share' in iMovie's menu bar.

Ensure that "Expert Settings" is selected in the "Compress movie for:" drop-down menu. Selecting 'Expert Settings' mode will provide the options to export the file as an audio file. Select the 'Share' button.

In the Save as… dialogue, select "Sound to AIFF" in the Export drop-down menu, Choose an appropriate directory for iMovie to export to, title the file, and select 'Save'. Depending on your machine configuration, iMovie will compress and export the movie project as an audio file in 15-40 seconds.

Locate the exported AIFF audio file and drag to your iTunes Library. Right-click on the file and select "Convert Selection to AAC". Once completed, 'Get Info' on the new file, edit meta data, add album art, and trash the originally purchased and AIFF audio files from your iTunes library.

I am also a registered user of NoteBurner Audio Converter. It's really amazingly! The converting speed is super! It converts a 4-minute song in less than 20sec! Also, it doesn't need any physical CDs! It burns DRM protected music to a special virtual CD-RW drive. Excellent DRM removing tool for Mac users! Strongly recommended!