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Hey all,

I keep seeing that AAC is "Apple's" proprietary format. Infact I guess that is the case as that is how I have seen it referenced. But I thought, and perhaps this is really where I need the clarification, that AAC belonged to Dolby, or did they just develop it? Apple says they use AAC as an open standard, as opposed to WMP, which is a proprietary standard, being, of course, Microsoft's.

So, what's the deal?

Added to original post:
Copied from Apple's Site:
Developed by the MPEG group that was instrumental in the development of audio codecs like MP3 and AC3 (also known as Dolby Digital), the AAC codec builds upon state-of-the art signal processing technology from Dolby Laboratories and brings true variable bit rate (VBR) audio encoding to QuickTime.

Copied from Dolby's Site:
New York, November 30, 2001—Dolby Laboratories demonstrates its new Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) consumer encoder at this year's 111th AES Convention, booth #124. Dolby's AAC consumer encoder, which complements its professional AAC encoder, enables AAC licensees to incorporate high-quality AAC encoding into CD-rippers, hard disk-based jukebox products, Internet-based music distribution systems, portable players, and other digital audio products for consumers.

[Krypton]

Apple's .m4a format is based on AAC. However, they wisely chose an extension other than all the other distributors of AAC software making it effectively incompatible with everything.

Go Apple!

[MaxPower2k3]

WinAmp 5, which is compatible with AAC, cannot read any meta data tags from m4a files ripped with iTunes

[Angus_D]

Music purchased from the iTunes Music Store uses Apple's proprietary DRM. This Protected AAC is what leads to the confusion. It's proprietary DRM built on an open standard format.

I wrote a little rant about some guy claiming WMA is superior to AAC in my blog, it's here if you're interested.