MP3 downloads not opening/paying in iTunes

Hey guys! I tried @matinik13’s way of opening an mp3 file in QuickTime then exporting audio as m4a. That didn’t work for me as I couldn’t figure out how to export just the audio.. but it did give me the idea to covert the mp3 files into m4a files. After converting to m4a, I was able to drag and drop the music file into my iTunes as we all normally do. Hope this helps!!! Xoxo

I have had the same problem trying to use YouTube conversion. I used it easily for years until my latest upgrade to 11.6.1. Now it downloads but I can't open it. It doesn't appear in my Music app either. What happened? How can I just go back to happyville???

Same problem for me, the downloads will not open in iTunes and won't play in QuickPlayer. Although, I can play them in Recents.

I have kept my 2015 iMac to Mojave. Perhaps moving up to Big Sur would be the solution.

Thanks

Hello everyone! If your still having issues with mp3's transferring from mac to iPhone or iPod I have a easy solution! Just convert the mp3 to a m4a, here is what I used. https://cloudconvert.com/mp3-to-m4a

Apple isn't so easy to use anymore :(

Thanks Bakastine! This completely worked for me. Every time I turn around I suddenly can't import or load a song to my iTunes library but this did the trick. Yes it's additional extra steps but for me it has been worth it. I'm providing extra details on exact steps for those like me that needed a little more detail on how to do what you were explaining (trial and error on my part to get it right!):

1.      Open VLC

2.     Click Media then Convert/Save

3.      On the File Tab, click ADD, then find the MP3 file in the folder it is currently located to select & open. The click

Convert/Save.

4.      In the next box, ensure the Setting radio button is marked for Convert and the Profile indicates Audio – MP3. Click Browse at the bottom and then select the folder you want to re-save the file. You can rename it whatever you want just ensure the extension is .mp3.

5.      From here you can drag/drop into your iTunes folder or add to the library from iTunes.

Experiencing exactly the same issues, I couldn't agree more. I am fairly technologically savvy - they have simply broken this functionality by essentially removing mp3 compatibility (which is crazy). I think it's reflective of Apple giving up on enabling customers to self manage their own music libraries and going all-in on streaming, abandoning a loyal part of their client base in doing so. Pretty sad and I'm sure many others, like me, will need to look elsewhere for future hardware purchases if not corrected.

Tried every single proposed solutions - didn't work.

Then all of a sudden I imported a 320 kbps mp3 instead of a lower 128 kbps quality --> it worked!

So it seems some itunes update broke the ability to import legacy files.

Other solution : open it in Quicktime Player, then choose File>Export As> Audio Only and save as .m4a --> this will then allow you to import the song/file in iTunes.

I had similar problems downloading mp3 files using Safari. I checked everything I could, talked with Apple Tech Support, no luck. Then I went back to the site I was downloading music files from using Firefox instead. Saved it in the downloads folder just like with Safari. It was saved as a MP3 file instead of web achive. It opened in Itunes and worked fine. Maybe there are setting in Safari that need to be changed, but I could not find any. These were files from websites that had podcasts or guitar lessons in MP3 files.

This was suggested many different ways, but it took me several attempts to figure it out. So, I wanted to share what I did in case it's helpful to anyone else.

Download the .mp3 like you always have.

From 'Downloads', right click on the file and select 'Open with'> QuickTime Player.

Once it's open in QuickTime, Select File> Export As> Audio Only> save it back in Downloads.

Now the new file you saved should be a .m4a.

Right click on it and select 'Open with'> Music.

It should start playing in Itunes automatically which adds it to your library.

I kept trying to save the m4a file directly to the Music folder and that didn't work.

You also can't just change the .mp3 to .m4a. When I tried that, it opened with itunes, but nothing played.

Good luck :)

Hi Everyone, having the same issues in 2022. I was downloading YouTube to MP3 and the mp3 and nothing would play. I found a YouTube to .wav converter instead and it works just fine. You may just have to convert everything to .wav. Worked for me. Hopefully it helps.

Hey Tiffi011,

Could you test converting the YouTube vid to a 320 kbps MP3 (and not the standard 128) and see if that solves the issue? See my answer in this thread on that.

it should be better quality than .wav

tx

Unreal. Suddenly unable to perform the workflow I've been using to manage my music since about 2004.

Workaround for changing the files to mp4s seems to be the way to go - but instead of exporting from Quicktime, just enable file extensions and change .mp3 to .mp4. Then you can drag the file into iTunes, and should be good to go.

Guessing this must be to combat ymp3 or similar downloaders / push people to relinquishing control of their music and using Spotify etc... I can't stand this garbage stop making things worse ffs

I'm experiencing the exact same problem. I'm learning to DJ and like to play the latest remixes etc, its very annoying.

Help! Having the same exact problem. Trouble shooting does not work.

Had the same issue - here's my workaround. Open the MP3 with quicktime and export audio only. It will export as M4A but it gets into Apple Music app just fine via that route.