You can use the Apple Music app on Mac or iTunes for Windows to convert song files between compressed and uncompressed formats. For example, you might want to import some uncompressed files into your music library as compressed files to save disk space. Examples of compressed formats are MP3 and Apple Lossless Encoder.
- Mac: Choose iTunes Preferences. Click the General button, then click the Importing Settings button in the second section of the. From the Import Using pop-up menu, choose the MP3 Encoder and then click OK to save the. Select one or more songs in your library, then from the Advanced menu, choose Create MP3.
- How to Manually Add Album Art to Mp3 on Mac. You could either add your image or automatically get the album cover to MP3 with iTunes on the Mac computer. Adding album art automatically, choose File Library Get Album Artwork. Adding album art manually choose Edit Item Info, click Artwork, then do one of the following.
While MP3 has been the most popular music format for decades, and iPhones have been the best selling smartphones worldwide, for the longest time they haven’t been playing well together natively.
On Mac and iPhone, iTunes (now called Music) has been pushing its own AAC format, which was designed to become the successor to MP3 by outputting higher sound quality at the same bit rate. AAC (or M4A) is still the predominant audio format when you buy or download songs from the iTunes Store.
Nevertheless, there are more than a few ways to directly add MP3 to iPhone from your Mac. So if you’re wondering how to transfer MP3 from iPhone to computer or vice versa, this guide is for you.
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How To Transfer MP3 To iPhone With Music
When you want to add download MP3 to iPhone Mac Music is probably the first option that comes to mind. The Music app first appeared in macOS Catalina (10.15) and is the direct descendant of iTunes, which has now been split into Music, Podcasts, and TV.
If you’ve used iTunes to transfer songs before, then Music would seem largely familiar in its interface. So here’s how to directly add MP3 to iPhone from Mac.
Note: Apple Music subscribers don’t need to actively sync their music between devices as it’s done automatically through iCloud.
- Launch Music from Applications
- Connect your iPhone via a USB cable (you might need to unlock it)
- Ensure that your iPhone appears in the Music sidebar
- Navigate to your library (Songs, Albums, or Artists)
- Select any songs you’d like to transfer (hold ⌘ to pick many)
- Drag and drop your selection onto your iPhone
If you have “Sync music onto …” checked, your iPhone might synchronize with your whole library automatically as soon as you connect it to your Mac. Because of that, a lot of people find Music or iTunes confusing. Luckily, there are lots of other ways to directly add MP3 to iPhone.
How to sync music using Finder
For the longest time, iTunes used to be the only way to add MP3 to iPhone. But in the few latest iterations of macOS, Apple has opened the option for files to be transferred using a regular Finder window, which finally answers the question, “How do I transfer MP3 from computer to iPhone without iTunes?”
So here’s how to transfer MP3 to iPhone with Finder:
- Connect your iPhone to Mac with a USB cable
- Open Finder and select on your iPhone in the sidebar
- Click Manage Storage… at the top
- Switch to Songs
- Drag and drop any music from your Mac there to sync
Similarly, you can use Finder to delete any music or other media from your iPhone. But if you’d like to have a more holistic approach to iPhone management, you need to use a different kind of app.
How to manage your iPhone with ease
Knowing how to transfer MP3 to iPhone is important. But there’s so much more to managing your smartphone effectively. What about transferring videos or photos, updating backups, moving data to a new phone, mirroring the screen to your Mac, and even changing ringtones?
AnyTrans syncs your music
In fact, everything you store on Mac (music, photos, docs, etc.) can be transferred to iPhone with AnyTrans app.
AnyTrans for iOS can do all that and lots more. A smart alternative to iTunes, AnyTrans makes transferring any kind of files or data between your devices a breeze and is a brilliant solution to the “how do I transfer MP3 files to my iPhone without iTunes” problem.
First, AnyTrans makes sure that all your devices are seamlessly in sync. Then it backs up all your data, including third-party apps like WhatsApp, so you’re always ready to switch phones or get your data back if you lose yours. Finally, it helps you download any media from over 900 websites directly to your phone, bypassing all the regular syncing rules that we’ve covered above. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
How to add MP3 to iPhone from cloud storage
If you prefer a more direct way of handling your music files, and you don’t want to risk the Music app turning your MP3s into M4As, you can bypass the syncing process entirely and rely on the third-party cloud to move your files instead.
All of us today use cloud services, whether it’s Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, or something else. Most of them have Mac as well as iPhone apps, which automatically sync all files between each other.
The process for moving files to the cloud is largely the same:
- Open Finder and click on the cloud service in the sidebar (e.g. Google Drive)
- Drag and drop files from your Desktop into the cloud or specific folder
- Open that cloud service’s app on your iPhone and download the newly transferred files
If you use multiple cloud storage apps though (especially on free tiers), this process might get a bit troublesome. So you’d be better off with a unifying cloud storage solution.
Dropshare doesn’t only merge all your cloud services into just one icon in your menu bar, it also adds a completely separate layer of features on top, from importing scanned documents directly to your phone to annotating screenshots and sharing files in seconds with automatic links. Finally, you’ll be in full control of your files like never before.
How to transfer MP3 to iPhone through AirDrop
Another way for how to transfer MP3 from iPhone to computer as well as any other files is using the built-in AirDrop feature.
AirDrop is a native service for sending files in all iOS and macOS devices first released in 2011. It uses a combination of WiFi and Bluetooth to transfer data and currently has no file size restrictions.
Here’s how to directly add MP3 to iPhone with AirDrop:
- Locate the MP3 file on your Mac
- Right-click and then select Share ➙ AirDrop
- Choose your iPhone in the pop-up window
- Accept the file on your iPhone and save it either locally or to iCloud
How to sync folders and backups between devices
While we’ve covered lots of ways of transferring files and even syncing automatically with Music or Finder, there are other ways to keep your information up to date across your devices. By using a file synchronization manager.
ChronoSync Express gives you complete peace of mind when it comes to your files and data by seamlessly managing duplicates across all your devices, be it other Macs or iPhones. Without any manual work, you always have the file you need at your fingertips, and if something happens you have a complete backup readily available on another device as well. Don’t want to sync everything? No problem. Just pick and choose files and folders that you need to be monitored. You can even set a custom schedule for when you want synchronization to be performed.
As you can see, you have plenty of choice. It’s certainly possible to transfer MP3 to iPhone with Music, Finder, or AirDrop. But why not make your life easier by managing your phone with AnyTrans, combining all your cloud storage in Dropshare, and keeping devices in sync with ChronoSync Express?
Best of all, AnyTrans, Dropshare, and ChronoSync Express are available to you absolutely free for seven days through the trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 200 useful apps that improve on the basic Mac functionality. Look through the list and pick your favorites to discover what you’ve been missing all this time!
'How do I convert Apple music to MP3? Can anyone offer some useful suggestions? I want to listen to the music on my Walkman MP3 player while Apple music files cannot be played.'
It is for sure that a considerable number of people may also encounter the above problem as well. Nevertheless, if you want to solve a problem, you must know what the key to the problem is. Therefore, this article will explain the deterrent reasons for converting Apple music to MP3.
In addition, in order to solve this hot potato, the article will provide you with the following appropriate methods to convert Apple music files to MP3.
Part 1. Convert Apple Music to MP3 Free with iTunes
Using iTunes, basically, is the simplest method that can enable you to control your conversion settings.
Step 1. In the iTunes software on your Mac, choose iTunes to visit Preference. If you are Windows user, select Edit and then click Preference.
Step 2. Click 'General' and then click on the 'Importing Settings…' as you can see it in the picture.
Step 3. Based on the 'Import Using' menu, select the appropriate format – 'MP3 Encoder'. Put differently, the format must be concerned with the song you want to covert. Then, click on 'OK'.
Step 4. To select 1 or multiple songs at a time, please select your songs by selecting the first song, holding Shift key and selecting the last song as more as possible in your library.
Step 5. Then click on 'File' from the menu and choose 'Convert' or 'Create New Version'.
Step 6. Lastly, click on 'Create MP3 Version' in the drop-down list.
However, its demerit has to be mentioned. Firstly, converting songs can slightly reduce the song's sound quality because you compress the original audio into the .mp3 format. Second, due to DRM protection, the purchased songs cannot be converted.
Can You Still Download Songs From Itunes
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Part 2. How to Convert Apple Music to MP3 Easily
This method aims to give you an accessible way to convert Apple music to MP3 alongside removing iTunes DRM protection. DRmare Apple Music Converter is a useful software that provides various functions such as adjusting the output format and audio quality.
Step 1. On Mac or PC, download the appropriate version of DRmare Audio Converter. Then, launch it on a computer and then find out its features.
Step 2. Click Add Music in the left column to load the iTunes music and audiobooks or you can simply put the Apple audios to the converter by dragging it onto the interface.
Step 3. Then, you are able to specify the MP3 as the output format. In addition, you have more formats as well as quality options.
Step 4. Tap on the 'Convert' button at the bottom of the window in order to convert Apple music to MP3.
Step 5. If you are going to confirm the converted history, tap on the button and open the folder. Then, after converting M4P to MP3, you can get the music on the PC. Besides, you can transfer to other devices to playback.
Part 3. Why You Should Convert Apple Music to MP3
How To Download Mp3 To Itunes On Mac
The reason why people cannot play Apple music on other non-Apple devices or offline can be comprehended because it is attributed to the built-in DRM technology. Under the protection of such DRM protected technology, although you can access to Apple Music with the subscribing Apple Music at a certain amount ($9.99/month or $14.99/year), you still cannot take a full control Apple Music. Put it in another way, the audio only can be played on authorized devices such as iPhone, iPad, as well as Android phones.
Besides, you're not allowed to add Apple music to video as BGM. What's worse, you'll need to keep subscribing Apple music, otherwise, all will be gone from your iTunes library.
The song files purchased from Apple Music are in M4P format, which is a lossy compression is one of the audio file extensions. It represents protected MP4G 4 (files) and encodes with an advanced audio codec (AAC). And it's under the protection conducted by FairPlay DRM technology.
If you convert Apple music to MP3, it would be compatible with almost all devices.
The Bottom Line
In general, reading this article gives you a clear idea of how to use the appropriate method to convert Apple Music to MP3 and why you need to do it. Moreover, removing DRM is the only way to get rid of the restriction of iTunes audio.
In addition, if you have any suggestions or other superior methods, please let me know, I am very happy to hear your precious voice.