iTunes (known simply as Music on newer Mac OS computers) is the ultimate organizer for various types of media. This guide will walk you through the basics of using the programs as well as how to convert music within them.
Comprehensive Guide to iTunes
iTunes and Music Basics:
Note: This article is updated for the use of iTunes 12.5.1
Update iTunes
If you have iTunes installed on your Windows computer (or have an older Mac OS computer that still uses iTunes instead of Music) making sure it's fully updated will ensure that you're getting the best performance out of the program.
Library
When you open iTunes or Music without any devices connected to the computer, you will usually land in your Library. This includes media that you have collected in iTunes via the iTunes store or otherwise. The user must set up an Apple ID account to purchase media through iTunes.
There are a variety of icons shown on the left sidebar. These will sort the music in iTunes depending on what options you choose. All of these categories are designed to help you find what you’re looking for.
Recently Added: Sorts music by when you added it to iTunes. It separated by “Today”, “This Month”, “The Past 3 Months”, etc…
Artists: Sorts music alphabetically by artist. All albums and songs by that artist are listed together.
Albums: Sorts music by name of album. All songs in the album are listed. If the song does not have an album it will be titled under “Unknown Album”.
Songs: Lists every song file. This can be sorted by many options by right clicking on the top bar (as as shown in the video) and clicking the category you want to be sorted.
Genres: Sorts the music by genre.
On the left sidebar, you can also see all the playlists you’ve made. A playlist is a collection of songs you can customize and group together to listen to after another. This is useful if you’re burning a CD or if you want to add a pre-made playlist to your device later.
If you want to change the type of media you are viewing, you can switch that by going to the drop down bar on the top left. You can choose from Music, Movies, TV Shows and Podcasts. If there is another mode of media you would like to view, click on “Edit Menu” to customize your options.
Finding New Music
There are a few options for finding content in both iTunes and Music.
Store: This is where you are able to purchase songs through iTunes. Once purcahsed they will be ready to sync to your device. Please be aware that on newer Macs, Apple has made it so you may have to manually enable access to the iTunes store. Here are instructions for enabling the iTunes Store within Music:
1. When Music is open, go to the top bar and select Music>Preferences.
2. Go to the general tab, select iTunes Store, and click OK.
3. Navigate to the search field denoted by the small magnifying glass (usually on the left side of Music)
4. Enter what you'd like to search for, then make sure that iTunes Store is selected in the upper right of Music.
For You: includes suggestions based on what your past preferences have been. You don’t need to pay for each song you listen to, but a monthly fee is required for an Apple Music account (this is different from an iTunes account and is not required to use iTunes; please note that any music from the Apple Music streaming service is incompatible with our devices).
Browse: Here you can browse different songs available in iTunes. This is a good way to keep up with what’s new.
Radio: You can stream music stations and news.
You can add new music to your library by clicking on the iTunes store and searching for the song(s) you would like to purchase. You can set up your iTunes account to be connected to your payment information. Once your account is set up properly, it’s easy to purchase songs directly from iTunes. You can also add media to iTunes by uploading files from a CD or a USB if the files are in the correct format.
Connecting a Device and Adding Music
It's simple to add media to your device from your song library. If you connect the player to your computer with the USB cable it came with, it should appear as a device. Depending on your OS, it may either appear in the Finder (Mac) or in the File Explorer (Windows), if it doesn't automatically show up on your desktop after you plug it in.
To add music from your music library to your device, you just need to drag and drop music directly from your Song Library into the device. Be sure to only drag over song files, as playlist files or folders of music will not work correctly.
Converting Your Music:
If you have some music files in your library that need to be converted to MP3s before you are able to play them on your device, you can do so within both iTunes and Music.
Check out our instructions for converting music within both iTunes and Music by clicking on one of the options below.
iTunes Conversion Instructions for PCs and Older Mac Users
1. To check the file format of your songs, open iTunes. When in iTunes, go to your library, then select songs (usually an option towards the left side of the screen). When you see a list of all of your songs in your iTunes look towards the top of the list to where it says Name, Genre, Time, Artist, etc. When you see the word 'Name' right click on the word name and a new menu will pop up. On this menu look for the word 'Kind' and select it so it has a checkmark next to it. Now when you see the list of your songs, look towards the top again where it says Name, Genre, Time, Artist, etc. you should see the word “Kind” in this row. Click once on the word Kind. This will organize your music by file type. Look for the type of files listed underneath the kind column. If it says protected, that file is protected by Apple, and you won't be able to use it with your device as it is only compatible with Apple devices that can stream music.
2. We also recommend checking if all the songs are downloaded from the cloud. In your song library in iTunes look towards the top of the screen where you see Name, Kind, Genre, Artist, etc. Right-click on the word name and a new list will come up. Select "Cloud Download". Repeat this step and select "Cloud-Status" as well. Now, look through your song list to see if there are any blue clouds next to your music if there are, then click the clouds to download those songs from the cloud onto your computer.
3. If any music is in any file type other than “Protected AAC” this music can be converted. To convert these files to MP3 (MPEG) format, you will be saving a duplicate copy of the music as another file format. To proceed with this, go to “Edit”, then select “Preferences”. A new window will pop up. Towards the bottom right of this window select the button that says “Import Settings”. After selecting this under the section titled “Import Using”, pick “MP3 Encoder”. Then click OK and click OK again. This step makes it possible to convert songs, and also makes any music you acquire in the future load in MP3 (MPEG) format.
4. After this go into your iTunes library song list and select all of the songs you wish to convert to MP3 format. To select multiple songs, hold down the control key, and while this key is held down click on all of the songs that are not in MP3 format. The songs are selected when they are highlighted in blue.
5. Once all of these songs are selected, go to “File”, then “Convert” then select “Create MP3 version”. It may take a few moments to convert all of this music. Once it is all converted, the songs will be organized by file type in iTunes under the “Kind” column. Now you can select all the songs in MP3 (MPEG) format and copy and paste them into your device, or drag & drop them over into your device when your player is plugged into your computer.
Music Conversion Instructions for Current Mac Users
1. To check the file format of the songs, open Music. When in Music, go to your library, then select songs (usually an option towards the left side of the screen). When you see a list of all of your songs, look towards the top of the list to where it says Name, Genre, Time, Artist, etc. When you see the word 'Name' right click on this and a new menu will pop up. On this menu look for the word 'Kind' and click on it so that it is check-marked. Now when you see the list of your songs, look towards the top again where it says Name, Genre, Time, Artist, etc. you should see the word “Kind” in this row. Click once on the word Kind. This will organize your music by file type. Look for the type of files listed underneath the kind column. If it says protected, that file is protected by Apple, and you won't be able to use it with your device as it is only compatible with Apple devices that can stream music.
2. We also recommend checking if all the songs are downloaded from the cloud. In your song library, look towards the top of the screen where you see Name, Kind, Genre, Artist, etc. Right-click on the word name and a new list will come up. Select "Cloud Download". Repeat this step and select "Cloud-Status" as well. Now, look through your song list to see if there are any blue clouds next to your music if there are, then click the clouds to download those songs from the cloud onto your computer.
3. If the music is in any format other than “Protected AAC” it can be converted. To convert these files to MP3 format, you will be saving a duplicate copy of the music as another file format. To proceed with this, go to “Music” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, then select “Preferences”. A new window will pop up. Click on the “Files” tab and then towards the bottom right of this window select the button that says “Import Settings”. After selecting this under the section titled “Import Using”, pick “MP3 Encoder”. Then click OK and click OK again.
4. After doing so, select all of the songs you wish to convert to MP3 format. To select multiple songs, hold down the command key, and while this key is held down click on all of the songs that are not in MP3 format. The songs are selected when they are highlighted.
5. Once all of these songs are selected, go to “File”, then “Convert” then select “Create MP3 version”. It may take a few moments to convert all of this music. Once it is all converted, the songs will be organized by file type (MP3 format) in your Songs library under the “Kind” column. Now you can select all the songs in MP3 (MPEG) format and copy and paste them onto your device, or drag & drop them over onto your device when your player is plugged into your computer.
Help Video Library:
Check out our helpful videos for iTunes by clicking on one of the options below.