'AirPlay Recorder' App Lets Mac Users Save Songs From iTunes Radio

Monday February 17, 2014 2:25 PM PST by Juli Clover
doubleTwist, the company behind the popular multi-platform iTunes-compatible doubleTwist Media Player, today brought its new AirPlay Recorder app to the Mac, allowing iTunes users to capture and save streaming audio for offline use.

First introduced for Android in January, AirPlay Recorder is designed to record audio, such as streaming songs from iTunes Radio, using AirPlay. After downloading and installing the app, it will appear as an AirPlay device within iTunes and will record audio after being selected from the AirPlay device list.

airplayrecorder
The app will record any audio or radio stream played within iTunes to a "Recorder" folder within the Music folder for offline playback. Recording audio is done in real time, which means a four minute song will take four minutes to record, and a reliable Internet connection is necessary because the app checks recording quality.

Apps like AirPlay Recorder, such as Audio Hijack Pro have been previously available, but at a higher price. The legality of AirPlay Recorder and similar apps is unclear, but according to doubleTwist co-founder Monique Farantzos, who spoke to Engadget back in January, the company is unconcerned about the app's legal status.
"Recording has been around for decades, from audio cassettes (remember mix tapes?) to TuneIn radio's recording feature. Given that Apple built their iPod empire on letting millions of people rip CDs based on fair use, we don't see how they could object to this app."
Along with Farantzos, doubleTwist also boasts Jon Lech Johansen as a co-founder, one of the developers behind DeCSS, a computer program able to decrypt content on commercially produced DVDs. Johansen was prosecuted in Norway back in 2002 for developing the software, but was later acquitted.

doubleTwist's AirPlay Recorder for Mac can be downloaded for free from the doubleTwist website. The free version allows users to record 10 second samples while full recording capability can be unlocked for $9.99.

Tag: iTunes Radio
54 comments


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zorinlynx
65 months ago
This sort of crap just makes companies want to implement stronger, more restrictive DRM, resulting in slower systems, more bugs, more locks and obfuscation, and more barriers to using your own legally acquired content in the future.

Of course I'm speaking on deaf ears, but.. if we pirate less, companies will be less willing to restrict how we use the stuff we buy. How'bout pirating less? Please? :)

(I'd be lying if I said I didn't pirate things occasionally, but only things that are otherwise unavailable legally)
Rating: 18 Votes
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newagemac
65 months ago
See this is why we can't have nice things.
Rating: 10 Votes
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kc99
65 months ago
Soundflower?

Can't the same thing easily be accomplished (for free) with Soundflower (http://cycling74.com/products/soundflower/) and Quicktime?
Rating: 8 Votes
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ScottishDuck
65 months ago

This sort of crap just makes companies want to implement stronger, more restrictive DRM, resulting in slower systems, more bugs, more locks and obfuscation, and more barriers to using your own legally acquired content in the future.

Of course I'm speaking on deaf ears, but.. if we pirate less, companies will be less willing to restrict how we use the stuff we buy. How'bout pirating less? Please? :)

(I'd be lying if I said I didn't pirate things occasionally, but only things that are otherwise unavailable legally)


Oh please, piracy is the very reason iTunes went DRM free. Peddle your crap elsewhere.

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This application is pointless. Why degrade music with lossy-to-lossy transcoding when you could just pirate it proper?
Rating: 8 Votes
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groovyd
65 months ago
what's new here?

Audio Hijack Pro has been able to do this for years now.
Rating: 8 Votes
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thespazz
65 months ago
LOL @ people saying "before its pulled". Who is going to pull it from the double twist website? Apple?
Rating: 5 Votes
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zorinlynx
65 months ago

The cease and desist letter most likely.


The fact that they are charging money for it is probably going to accelerate this process.

Content owners get upset when free tools are released to pirate content.

Content owners get outright livid and vengeful when other people try to make money using those tools!
Rating: 3 Votes
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pmz
65 months ago

The legality of AirPlay Recorder and similar apps is unclear,


Uh..no it isn't Let me clear it up for you: It's an audio recorder app.

The end.
Rating: 3 Votes
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spooky2k
65 months ago
This kind of app has been around for a long time. Love that they charge for it though. Bet they'd complain about piracy of it. Ah, the irony.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Demon Hunter
65 months ago
If you're going to spend $10 for a seedy app that's barely legal, at least do yourself the favor of checking out Magnatune (http://magnatune.com/). For another 5 bucks you could have access to the entire DRM-free Magnatune library. Heck if you wanted to you could download every album in the catalog. What's more, they actually encourage you to share the downloaded music with your friends.

This isn't meant to be a plug for Magnatune (seriously it is great though) but you have to be pretty desperate for music to do something like this, IMO.
Rating: 2 Votes
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