how to remove MP3 watermarks

[MP3Pr0]

Anyone know how - or any progs to do so? Supposedly MP3 watermarks are inaudible and can survive re-encoding, filtering, and so forth.

[thepuzzler]

What type watermarks are you trying to remove? The easiest way is to not buy the mp3 from iTunes etc and get an illicit copy sans watermarking from a home ripped CD.

Or am I missing something?

[MP3Pr0]

I was after a rare track and could only get it from an online music store, which watermarks their MP3s. Supposedly there is information which can be linked back to me (name, etc.) encoded in the audio itself, which can't be removed through resampling, re-encoding, etc. Anyone know about this?

[thepuzzler]

Just for the sheer curiosity, can I ask which tune / album you are looking for?

[shawners]

Post album or song since its already been bought and you own the copy.

[MP3Pr0]

The following sites explain how this supposedly works:

http://www.cmlab.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~dynamic/AWM/index.html
http://www2003.org/cdrom/papers/poster/p265/WWW2003P265-WeiLi.htm

I've already purchased the track, but want to eliminate the watermark so I can share it without it being tracked back to me.

[shawners]

Give me the name of song/artist you are wanting. There are other ways of getting what you want without encoding and re-coding.

[MP3Pr0]

Give me the name of song/artist you are wanting. There are other ways of getting what you want without encoding and re-coding.

I already have the file --- now I want to get rid of the watermark so I can share it safely.

I just did some watermark tests - embedding watermarks and extracting them - and this DOES work very well. There's no noticeable audio difference in the original sample and the watermarked sample. This is impressive (and scary) indeed.

[shawners]

THe songs that have watermark, are online without it already. Just like in DVD's on the net, they are stripped without copy protection and REGION free. The dvd you may own may have protections to keep you from putting it online or being used elsewhere. You can download songs without it. I was just asking which songs and artist you had, I can probably find a 100 sources and a FLAC source depending on it.

[thepuzzler]

Exactly what I was eluding too.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Maye they're all watermarked! lol



Shawners, do you ever wonder if you might one day share something with the wrong person? You sure do talk alot about it on a public forum. YOu should keep these things quiet, maybe take it to PM if youre trusting enough. Just a thought

[mfgbypooter]

Anyone know how to remove skidmarks?

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[shawners]

Should i talk about knitting. Filesharing. He owns it, re-encoding it can downgrade the quality. Trying to remove watermarks is a daunting task. I think the only way to do it is with a program that records the sound from the soundcard which can be of lesser quality then the Mp3 is intended for. I can burn a track on cd, all the information of it gets burnt on, going through a soundcard can only degrade the song. And i hate to be on a recieving end of that music rip. I dont download DRM Protected xvid movies. Next they will ask how to remove such a thing from it.

[Mels_Smileys45]

What I meant was you seem to offer to download stuff for all kinds of people and send it to them. Just wondering if thats a wise thing to do here on a very public forum. If you feel alright about it thats ok.

[Auggie2k]

May I suggest just playing the song on your computer as normal and using a sound recorder program to make an digital audio duplicate?

Like recording from protected CD's, just record the sound.

[WE_DELIVER]

Watermarked audio is actually part of the song. I think unless you know the exact profile of the watermark it would be impossible to remove. Not to mention, that it degrades the sound quality since youre listening the watermark.

Lets say I make a watermark thats a Beep every other second. No matter how you play it, you'll always hear it. Best way would be to get a clean, untouched version like Shawners said.

BTW, although you will be loosing quality, it might be possible to disrupt any patterns that a water mark has by reencoding the song, although the results of this would greatly depend on how percise the pattern of the watermark is.

[CrashPeer44]

Just rip the Audio through the lovley analog hole.
Since bought from a shitty online DRM store, the quality is bad as is

[zarquon]

Just rip the Audio through the lovley analog hole.
Since bought from a shitty online DRM store, the quality is bad as is

Echo echo echo..................... Auggie just said that as well. Well work fine as long as the watermark isnt enoceded into the audio stream.

[mfgbypooter]

I already have the file --- now I want to get rid of the watermark so I can share it safely.If you want to share it don't re-encode it, just call the police instead.

Show them the receipt where you bought the file.

Tell them you think someone broke in while you weren't home, booted up your computer, and uploaded the file.

Be sure to get a copy of the police report.

Then, when it shows up later online you can't be blamed. :icon_thum

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[MP3Pr0]

I do not want help getting any songs. I simply want to know if anyone knows any ways to get rid of audio watermarking, so I can share songs I buy online without them being traced back to me. Audio watermarking is real, and it is persistent even through means such as re-recording, re-sampling, etc. I've tested this myself and was blown away by how it works. I've already defeated one such scheme however, resulting in no noticeable audio deterioration. So now I'm not too worried about it.

[MP3Pr0]

PS - the watermark is encoded into the waveform itself. This isn't the usual DRM scheme. And the audio quality is terrific.

[MP3Pr0]

Watermarked audio is actually part of the song. I think unless you know the exact profile of the watermark it would be impossible to remove. Not to mention, that it degrades the sound quality since youre listening the watermark..

Exactly. That's what's so aggravating about this.



Lets say I make a watermark thats a Beep every other second. No matter how you play it, you'll always hear it. Best way would be to get a clean, untouched version like Shawners said.

What if you simply can't find such a thing on any P2P networks? Like in my case, the track is very rare.


BTW, although you will be loosing quality, it might be possible to disrupt any patterns that a water mark
has by reencoding the song, although the results of this would greatly depend on how percise the pattern of the watermark is.

I think I've already done this *g*
I've defeated one watermarking scheme, but don't know if such a "crack" will work on the scheme used by the people I got my track from.

[shawners]

I am 99percent sure I can find the song your looking for if you get your head out of the ground and tell us. DONT SHare this drm/watermark crap even after removing it. Music cant stand to be re-encoded more then once. If you buy it, why the hell you want to share it online? Im guessing its already online in higher quality without watermarkings. Soon as they find people getting around this, they plug up the hole by making you update your software so it will play. Other then that, programs can record the sound as it comes out of your sound card and that bypasses any watermarkings. Google it.

[mfgbypooter]

I know I would be seriously pissed off if I downloaded a re-encoded file that was not advertised as such.

That includes cd's that were burned from .mp3's and then later ripped back to .wav.

pure garbage.

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[thepuzzler]

I am 99percent sure I can find the song your looking for if you get your head out of the ground and tell us. Here here. There hasnt been a 'rare' track I haven't been able to find. Please tell us the goddamn name!!

[Auggie2k]

Here here. There hasnt been a 'rare' track I haven't been able to find. Please tell us the goddamn name!!
Ditto, just spit it out.

[black_magiic]

This is painful. I am starting to wonder if this is some uber rare hidden Britney's Spears tracka and he just doesnt want to come out of the closet. Or maybe he is just trying to aggrivate everyone by not telling people the title. Perhaps he doesnt want to be prooven wrong. His pride is the only thing he has to lose by putting the song name up anyways.

[thepuzzler]

It can't be that rare if it's for sale on a commercial music site.

[Auggie2k]

It can't be that rare if it's for sale on a commercial music site.
That's what I was just about to type. It can't be that rare. Speak up man, we'll make an exception.

[MP3Pr0]

You're missing the point - I want to get rid of the watermark - for this and future files. Who cares what the file is?

[WE_DELIVER]

Well, I think we all agree that you cant effectively remove the watermark. People here are asking what the filename is so that they could help you get an original, untainted rip.

[Auggie2k]

If it audio encoded, IE. a voice saying "iTunes" or whatever, the only way you could get rid of that is with some good audio editing skills.

[MP3Pr0]

Actually it's pretty impressive how it works. The watermark consists of slight variations in the audio frequencies, distributed throughout the audio track. The modified frequencies are audible, but blend into the overall sound and are virtually indistinguishable to the human ear. Tthe watermark is in the sound itself and not reliant upon digital encoding; it will exist even if you record from an analog source (external speaker, etc.). It will exist if you resample the audio, change the tempo, modify the duration, or other digital editing. Changing the audio in these ways will cause "static" in the watermark, but it is still recognizable and decipherable. Unless you really change the overall sound (like using low-quality resampling), the watermark wil exist. I've experimented with this and it's pretty neat - possibly useful for storing basic images and song information. I've defeated one scheme which uses mono WAV audio, and the technique might just defeat other schemes also.

For those interested, the watermark scheme in particular I want to know more about is from Traxsource.com which is an online music store. They have some great tracks and don't use conventional DRM.

Anyone with more info or links please post them here. Thanks.

[shawners]

Do you read any other post besides your own? Bad reputation points for you.

[Iceflower]

Does anyone know if there's such software for detecting the presence of watermark in a song?

[makumba]

Does anyone know if there's such software for detecting the presence of watermark in a song?

Try Stirmark (http://www.petitcolas.net/fabien/watermarking/stirmark/). It looks like this is what you search for.

[makumba]

So I have the same problem: I am searching for these CDs from the hungarian group "Parno Graszt (http://www.parnograszt.hu/)" (Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/parnograszt)):

Ez a világ nekem való (This world is made for me) (2007): https://www.songs.hu/album/id/771

Járom az utam (In my world) (2004): https://www.songs.hu/album/id/686

Rávágok a zongorára (Hit the Piano) (2002): https://www.songs.hu/album/id/685

The ONLY source (yes, retailers too!) for all 3CDs I have found is https://www.songs.hu. But they are watermarking their files.

Since you tell us there is no possibility to remove watermarking I would like to use your offer to search for the songs. Maybe I am really to unexperienced to find them in P2P.

Thx very much :)

[Iceflower]

Try Stirmark (http://www.petitcolas.net/fabien/watermarking/stirmark/). It looks like this is what you search for.

Binary source code? dude, I have no idea where to start with that :icon_geek

[lion7718]

Anyone with more info or links please post them here. Thanks.

Why, Why should we post a link..I've read through 3 damn pages & you refuse to post the damn file name of the song....