kituneswin: WMA and iTunes

All about transferring my old music files to iTunes

Apple's propaganda literature states:

iTunes can import music from Windows Media Player, MusicMatch and any other app that uses MP3, AAC or WMA (unprotected). iTunes 4.9 will now convert files digitized by Windows Media Player in unprotected format to AAC, so you can use them in iTunes or on iPod.

Here's how.

To transfer from MusicMatch to iTunes, check this out:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607274

To transfer from Windows Media Player to iTunes, follow pretty much the same directions. Because Windows Media Player uses a different playlist format, you'll need to manually export those from WMP.

Select the playlist, then hit the dropdown 'Now Playing Playlist' and hit 'export playlist'. Then make sure to select .m3u as the file format and hit Save. Then follow the rest of directions from the MusicMatch article.

A bit more advanced, but allows you to keep WMP and iTunes in sync, please check out this program:
http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=26&MessageID=943 04


WMA converting issues

Anytime you see 'import wma to iTunes,' you'll notice the annoying disclaimer of 'unprotected.'

What is 'protected?'

Microsoft's WMA format has an option to layer the file with copy protection. So if the WMAs you have are from an online music store (MusicMatch, Napster, etc.) you're out of luck. The only thing you can do with those files is burn them to CD (provided you have the rights to do so), and reimport them into iTunes.

But the real annoying thing is the fact that by default, WMP is set to protect CDs that you rip by yourself! In Tools>Options>Import/Rip, if you have 'copy protect music' checked, you're in the same boat as someone who bought the music online, and you'll have to burn and reimport.

If your music appears to be unprotected, and you still can't get iTunes to import it, please post so that someone can try to help.

more info
*iTunes for Mac cannot convert from WMA (although this freeware app can help: http://www.easywma.com/ )
*iTunes for Windows v4.5 or later is required
*WMP v9 or later is required
*You can convert into any format iTunes can import into. Go to edit/prefs/import to change to, say, mp3, so that you don't have a compatibility problem in the future

With help from King Cole and Dan White

iPods: 2G, photo, nano