IPod Music

My special needs son had music on his Ipod. We loaded the music years and years ago from children's CDs. He accidentally deleted the app. I downloaded the app but all of the music is gone. The PC we used is long gone. Is there any way to retrieve it?

iPod, iOS 12

Posted on Jul 10, 2023 12:31 PM

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5 replies

Jul 11, 2023 2:17 AM in response to IansMom818

IansMom818 wrote:

My special needs son had music on his Ipod. We loaded the music years and years ago from children's CDs. He accidentally deleted the app. I downloaded the app but all of the music is gone. The PC we used is long gone. Is there any way to retrieve it?

If you still have the CDs, you can re-import the music from CD, then use a PC or Mac to synchronize (load) the music onto the iPod.


When you synchronize the iPod to the new PC or Mac, the new PC or Mac will completely overwrite any songs that might be currently stored on the iPod.


For PCs, and for Macs running Mojave or earlier, you would use iTunes to do the importing and synchronization. For Macs running Catalina or later, I believe you would use the Music app to do the importing, and the Finder to take care of the synchronization.


Jul 11, 2023 7:37 AM in response to IansMom818

You can manage an iPod from a laptop running macOS or Windows, if you don't have a desktop PC. It's what's inside the computer that counts, not whether it runs off wall power or batteries.


Does your laptop run macOS or Windows – as opposed to something else, like Linux, or Google's ChromeOS? If it does, and if it has a USB 2.0 or better port (with either a USB-A or a USB-C connector), maybe it could be the new host for your iPod. Most iPods will sync and charge via USB; and if your laptop doesn't have a built-in optical drive, there are external USB CD/DVD buirners that aren't all that expensive.


As noted before, setting up iTunes/Finder synchronization with a new computer (here, a new laptop computer) will overwrite all of the music already on the iPod. But if you have the CDs, they're in good condition, and you can successfully extract music from them to build a new iTunes/Music Library on the laptop computer, then the old copies on the iPod would be disposable.


Alternately, there are commercial programs for Macs and PCs that claim to be able to pull the music off an iPod. Apple never added the ability to pull music off of the iPod (with the exception of tracks purchased directly from the iTunes Store, using an iPod Touch). The iPod model was, and still is, that a Mac or PC holds the master library (of music purchased from anyone other than Apple), and that you update the iPod to match (a subset of) that master library. By getting rid of your old desktop PC, you trashed that master library (unless you kept backups) - but with the CDs, you could build a new one.


(And if you purchased music online, in electronic, downloadable form from someone like Apple or Amazon, you may be able to re-download that music for free from the retailer who sold it to you.)

IPod Music

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