How to Use DRM Protected Songs in iMovie iPhone/Mac in 2024

iMovie is a professional video editing tool available on iOS and Mac devices. It's easy to use yet very powerful. When editing a video, iMovie allows you to add background music from its own music library or your own music library. However, many users reported that they received this prompt: this song is DRM protected and can't be used by iMovie. Why does this happen? How to solve it? Don't worry, we are here to show you how to use DRM protected songs in iMovie iPhone/Mac.

• Part 1. Why This Song Is DRM Protected iMovie?
• Part 2. How to Get Non DRM Protected Songs for iMovie
• Part 3. How to Add DRM Music to iMovie on iPhone
• Part 4. How to Add DRM Music to iMovie on Mac
• Part 5. FAQs about Using DRM Protected Songs on iMovie
• Part 6. In Summary

Part 1. Why This Song Is DRM Protected iMovie?

When you add a song to iMovie, why does it say: This song is DRM protected and cannot be used by iMovie?

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It is a technology used to protect digital content, such as music, movies, and e-books, from unauthorized copying or distribution. This means that DRM-protected content can only be used on authorized devices and platforms.

Therefore, if you want to add DRM protected music to iMovie, you need to remove the DRM protection first. This can be done using third-party software such as DRmare Audio Converter, etc. Read on and learn how to get non DRM protected songs for iMovie.

Part 2. How to Get Non DRM Protected Songs for iMovie

As mentioned above, to use DRM-protected music on iMovie, you need to remove the DRM protection first. There is one more thing you need to consider. iMovie only supports audio files in MP3, AAC, WAV, M4A, and AIFF formats. Therefore, you will also need to convert your music to one of these formats.

Thankfully, DRmare Audio Converter can easily remove protection from Apple Music, iTunes and Audible. It can also convert these songs to popular audio formats, including MP3, AAC, WAV, M4A, M4B, and FLAC. The process is very fast, up to 30 times faster. It maintains lossless sound quality and complete ID3 tags such as title, album cover, etc. You can even customize output audio parameters, including channels, bitrate, sample rate, and more. With it, you can easily get DRM-free Apple Music, iTunes or Audible audio files. You can then upload these files to iMovie for use.

DRmare Audio Converter

• Remove DRM protection from Apple Music, iTunes, and Audible
• Convert music files to DRM-free MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, etc.
• Ensure lossless sound quality and metadata information
• Run at 30X faster speed, support batch conversion

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Now, we will guide you on how to convert Apple Music/iTunes songs to iMovie-compatible MP3 files. (Make sure you've installed the DRmare Audio Converter and downloaded your music files in advance.)

Step 1Run DRmare Audio Converter

After installation, open DRmare Apple Music Converter on your computer. Then you can get its intuitive interface. As shown above, there are several icons that you will use in the following steps. Note that before converting your desired Apple Music/iTunes songs, you need to download them in advance.

Step 2Import downloaded Apple Music/iTunes songs

You can click one of the two "add audio" buttons at the bottom left to load Apple Music/iTunes files. The first allows you to add Apple Music songs from your iTunes library, while the second will open your computer folders. You are also allowed to drag and drop music files to this software's main screen.

Step 3Set output audio format for iMovie

To launch the output settings window, click on the 'Set Output Format' icon at the bottom right. To add music to iMovie from Apple Music/iTunes to iMovie, you can choose MP3, AAC, WAV, or M4A format. You can also personalize other Apple Music output parameters according to the iMovie movies you want to create.

Step 4Convert DRM protected music for iMovie

Now press the "Convert" button. It will start to convert the protected M4P Apple Music to MP3 or other plain formats you set before. Once it is done, all your music files will become non-protected songs and they can be easily added to iMovie. You can find the converted songs via the 'View history' icon or 'Output' folder on your PC. Now, you can transfer these DRM-free songs to iMovie or any other platform without any hassle.

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Part 3. How to Use DRM Protected Songs in iMovie iPhone

By doing the above steps, you have got non DRM protected songs for iMovie. They are ready to be imported into iMovie. And below is a tutorial on how to get DRM protected songs on iMovie on iPhone.

Step 1. Open iTunes on your computer and click on "File" > "Add File to Library". Then choose the folder that contains your converted music files to add them to iTunes.

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to your computer via a USB cable. Then click on your iPhone from the top panel.

Step 3. Go to "Music" from the left panel and then select to sync converted Apple Music files. Then click the "Sync" button to transfer Apple Music to iPhone.

Step 4. Launch iMovie on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Then open your project and click the "Add" button. Then choose the "Audio" option.

Step 5. Tap on the "My Music" option and it will load your music in your iTunes library.

Step 6. Then, you can add the music files you want to add to iMovie and click the "Use" button to import them.

Part 4. How to Add DRM Music to iMovie on Mac

With the above, you've learned how to add Apple Music to iMovie on iPhone. If you are using a Mac computer, the steps are even easier. Now, please check how to add DRM protected music to iMovie on Mac with two methods.

Way 1. By Import Feature

Step 1. Open iMovie from your Mac computer. Then create a video project.

Step 2. Hit on the 'Audio' at the top bar of the window. Next, select 'Music' from the Libraries list.

Step 3. Find your converted DRM-free music files in the target folder.

Step 4. Choose the songs you want to add to the iMovie video. Then drag it to the timeline.

Way 2. By Finder

Step 1. Set up the Finder app on your Mac computer.

Step 2. Locate the converted non-protected music files to import to iMovie.

Step 3. Launch the iMovie program and open a video project.

Step 4. Drag and drop the target song to the timeline. Then you can start to alter the iMovie video clip.

Besides that, you can add the audio from a video clip and add sound effects. Or you can record your own sound through a microphone for your iMovie.

Part 5. FAQs about Using DRM-protected Songs on iMovie

Q1: What Does DRM Protected Mean in iMovie?

A: This means that the songs you want to add to iMovie are protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM). You can't use them in iMovie until you remove the protection.

Q2: Why Do I Get the Prompt: This Song Is DRM Protected iMovie?

A: That's because the song you are using is protected and it is not supported by iMovie.

Q3: How to Get Non DRM Protected Songs?

A: You can get DRM-free songs by using third-party software such as DRmare Audio Converter. It works for Apple Music, iTunes, and Audible. See also: How to Remove DRM from Spotify, How to Remove DRM from Tidal

Q4: How Do I Use DRM Protected Songs in iMovie?

A: You need to remove the DRM protection and convert the songs to an audio format supported by iMovie. DRmare Audio Converter can just help you do that. (You can check the above table to see iMovie-supported audio formats.) Then you can add these unprotected songs to iMovie.

Q5: What Songs Are Not DRM Protected on iMovie?

A: If you have songs purchased from iTunes, they are DRM-free and available in iMovie. If you use music streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc., most of the songs are DRM protected and cannot be used directly in iMovie. In this case, you need to use third-party software to remove DRM protection and convert the songs to a format that can be used in iMovie.

Q6: How to Use Apple Music in iMovie?

A: Songs from Apple Music are DRM-protected so you need to remove the protection first. You can use DRmare Apple Music Converter to remove Apple Music DRM and convert it to MP3 or other formats supported by iMovie. After that, you can press Add Media > File icon to add and use protected Apple Music songs in iMovie.

Part 6. The Verdict

Don't worry if you meet the issue of 'this song is DRM protected and can't be used by iMovie'. DRmare Audio Converter can easily help you remove protection from Apple Music, iTunes, etc. and convert these songs to MP3 or other formats supported by iMovie. After that, you can easily import the non-protected songs to iMovie and use them to edit your video.