Convert iTunes Music to MP3: Even if it’s digital music, the sounds you buy from the iTunes Store or download from Apple Music are not MP3 files.
How to Convert iTunes Music to MP3
When the music is not in MP3 format, you can always find a way to convert it to whatever format you prefer. In fact, it only takes a few steps to convert music to MP3, just using the built-in iTunes tool.
ITunes and Apple Music format: AAC and not MP3
People often use the term “MP3” to refer to digital music files, but it must be said that in reality it is not really that. MP3 actually refers to a type of music file.
Music purchased and downloaded from Apple Music is in AAC format. While AAC and MP3 are both digital audio file types, AAC is a new generation format designed to provide better sound while taking up the same amount of space or even less than the format MP3.
There are many programs that can do this conversion, but you don’t necessarily need them. You already have iTunes on your computer, so using it directly would be much easier. The instructions in this article will show you how to use iTunes to convert iTunes music to MP3 format.
There are many programs that can convert sounds from one format to another and support audio conversion from iTunes to MP3. It’s really great, but we repeat it again, in the majority of cases, it’s really not necessary.
Unless you have specific needs (like FLAC format, if you don’t need them, then there’s no point in looking elsewhere), it’s not worth spending more than you need for a audio conversion software. Stay on iTunes.
How to Convert iTunes Music to MP3
1. The audio converter built into iTunes allows you to control the conversion settings, including the type of file to create and the output sound quality.
To change the settings, go to “iTunes”> “Preferences …”> “General”> “Import settings …”> “Import via”> “MP3 encoder”.
2. Find the music (s) you want to convert to MP3 in iTunes and click on it.
Tip:You can select one file at a time, a group of sounds or albums(for this, click on the first music, hold down the “shift” key, then click on the last music)or even music that is not rows one after the other(for this, hold down the “Command” key on your Mac or the “Ctrl” key on a PC, then click on the desired music).
3. When all the music you want to convert is selected, click “File” on the iTunes menu.
4. Then click “Convert” (in some versions of iTunes, you will need to look for the “Create a new version” option.
5. Click on “Create MP3 version”. This will start converting your iTunes songs to MP3 files so that you can play them on other MP3 players (they also work on Apple devices).
Note: Two files will be created. The new MP3 file you just created will appear in iTunes right next to the original AAC version.
6. It’s good! You have finally successfully converted iTunes files to MP3. You may now want to delete duplicate files or learn more about these files. Continue reading this article to learn more.
Please note: Converting music may reduce the audio quality. Before converting iTunes files to MP3, it is important to know that doing so may reduce the sound quality of your favorite songs.
This is because AAC and MP3 files are compressed versions of the original audio files (raw audio files can be 10 times larger than MP3 or AAC files). Some files have better quality when they were originally created in AAC or MP3.
So converting an AAC file to another format, like MP3, means even more compression and loss of sound quality. Even though this change in quality may be so small that you don’t see any difference, if you convert a file repeatedly,
What to do with unnecessary music or duplicate files?
After converting your iTunes files to MP3, you may no longer want to keep the music of AAC version, it would take up too much disk space. If so, you can remove duplicate files from iTunes. The iTunes function to find duplicate versions of music can really make your job easier.
Since the iTunes version of your audio files are the originals, it would be best that you make a backup before deleting them. All purchases from iTunes can be re-downloaded via iCloud. Please make sure the music is there before you delete it from your software.
Can you convert songs from Apple Music to MP3?
These instructions apply to songs you purchased from the iTunes Store. But let’s face it, who still buys music these days? We listen to them all live! But what about the sounds that come from Apple Music and that are on your computer? Can they be converted to MP3?
The answer is unfortunately no. Apple Music audio files are in AAC format and are protected by a special DRM. This restriction was imposed to ensure that you have an Apple Music subscription and that you have the authorization to listen to songs.
However, you could still download a ton of music, convert it to MP3, cancel your subscription and still keep it on your computer. Yet Apple (and any other music streaming company) wouldn’t want you to do it. So there is no way to convert Apple Music files to MP3, unless you can break DRM.