If I have songs I have downloaded from other music services, can I still put them on an iPod?

Question

I am thinking of going to buy an iPod today, but I want to know something first... I have songs I have d/led from sources other than iTunes, but have them transferred into my iTunes library. Will I be able to put these on an iPod, or do they only play songs purchased from iTunes?

Answer 1

yes, as long as it's in the compatible format as your ipod.
If you are using itunes on your computer, and it plays your music even from other sorces then your Apple ipod will play what's on your itunes Library also.

Answer 2

If the music files are in mp3 format, you can add these to your iPod. (You can tell they are mp3 files by what Windows lists them as under "File type" in the Details view)

If you bought any of this music online somewhere, then the answer is a bit more complicated:

It depends on the service. Napster, RealPlayer, Sony Connect, WalMart music, and the rest store their music in a protected format that competes with iTunes protections and is not compatible with the iPod.

Apple *could* write in support for other protected formats, but they won't so that they can maintain a chokehold on their iPod consumers and keep them inside the Apple walled garden.

You may be able to get around this by burning your music to a CD then ripping it into iTunes, *then* downloading it to your iPod, but not only is it cumbersome and wastes media, but the music quality will suffer as well, and most services give you low-quality files to begin with.

Your best bet is to pick one download service and stick with it, make sure you buy hardware that supports that service. iPod only works with iTunes, Zune only works with Microsoft's Zune system, and most of the stuff labeled PlaysForSure should work with any of the stores that use that label.

Or, you can buy CDs. These are nice because you actually *own* the media (online music is licensed to you) and the CDs are much higher quality than downloaded tunes *and* the music companies can't restrict what you do with them under Fair Use.

There are ways to hack the protected music files on some stores but I cannot disclose these for legal reasons. Further, they are not always easy to use.

Good luck.

Answer 3

They don't have to be from iTunes.

Answer 4

Use Nero, it can convert Video files into Ipod files

http://www.nero.com/nero7/eng/nero7-demo.php

read more about it at---

http://www.nero.com/nero7/enu/iPod_and_PSP.html