How to convert iTunes to MP3

By Will Spencer via http://www.articlesnatch.com

You might have experienced being unable to play songs you bought from the iTunes Store without using your iPods. At times that can be really frustrating seeing that you bought the music and you feel like you have the right to listen to it using other players. The solution is to convert iTunes to MP3 format, which may not be as easy at it looks.

The trouble with the steps to convert iTunes to MP3 is due to the fact that the music you downloaded from the iTunes Store will be encrypted. This simply means that the music is protected from song duplication and piracy. These songs are classified as DRM protected, which simply means they could only be played a specific computer or type of media player.

It is also interesting to note that Apple continues to have a tight control over the encryption used in iTunes. It is safeguarded to the point that no other online music store can sell music with the same encryption. To the consumer, this simply means you can only get their music from them and play it on their player or software. However, if you are able to convert iTunes to MP3, which is a format that is open to all, then you can listen to the music you bought from them on a player of your own choosing.

The first method to convert iTunes to MP3 is safe and risk free, which is burning your music to a disk, while the second one, which entails using a music file conversion program, might become a bit messy.

If you opt to use a file converting program, you run the risk of corrupting your files. This may be the fastest and the easiest way to convert iTunes to MP3 but you run the risk of corrupting files. Your other option is to burn your songs to a disk then rip the songs from the disk to into MP3. You may use a burning software if that you like or that you're familiar with.

Popular CD burning software like Roxio or Nero can help you to convert iTunes to MP3. Grab a blank CD and put it in then burn the songs from iTunes into a regular CD format. Once all the songs have been burned into a CD, you now have your songs in open format. The next step to convert iTunes to MP3 using this method is to rip the music from off the CD into MP3.

You might think that this procedure is either laborious or time consuming since it will take some time to burn your songs into a CD. Another thing you should think about is the fact that you can fit 18 songs at the most to one CD. This will mean that if you want to convert more songs, you will have to do the same steps over and over.

If ever you don't want to use a third-party burning software then you can just use the CD burning feature in iTunes. This is an alternative method to convert iTunes to MP3 without using another software. Before you start burning your music, you should set iTunes to burn using your CD burner. Select your CD burner on the preferences menu.

Those who don't have a CD burner on their computer will have to use a virtual burner software like TuneClone or NoteBurner. All you have to do to convert iTunes to MP3 is to create a new playlist in iTunes, which includes all the songs you want to convert. After making your playlist then burn your music to a disk in iTunes. If you used a virtual burner, obviously you don't have to rip the music since it's already on your hard drive.

These are your options if you want to convert your iTunes music into open music formats like MP3. Some of your options are a bit risky while other options are safe but sometimes are time consuming.