Old ipod music from cds

pjmurf wrote:

Is it possible to transfer these files/ this library to a current device?

Not easily. iTunes has no native method for getting music from an iPod into iTunes or onto another device.

Since the only way to add music to most old iPods was through an iTunes Library, all your music should still be in that library (i.e. iTunes on your computer). Do you still have access to that iTunes Library, or a backup of it? If not, the next hope is that you have access to the files (i.e. the .m4a, mp3 or whichever format they were in), even if they are not catalogued in an iTunes Library?

If you do not have any of the above, there are two remaining methods. I'll leave you to decide which is the easier option for you:

1. 1. re-build your Library by re-copying the CDs to a new Library
   2. try and recover the raw files from the iPod and re-create your Library. As stated, iTunes can't do this, so it requires third-party software. See the next paragraph

The music on the iPod is in a non-standard format, so the software has to copy the files from the iPod and convert them into a format that can actually be used elsewhere. Fellow user turingtest2 has put together a document explaining this and detailing software that can help. See Recover your iTunes library from your iPo… - Apple Community

Some of the software is free, some has limited functionality, and some has a cost.

Whatever you decide to do, to prevent this happening again, make and maintain a backup.

• • iTunes is a backup for your iPod or other portable device
  • the files for your music are simply listed by iTunes, in its Library. The music is not "in iTunes".
  • The user needs to make a backup of the (music) files (as well as any other files that you don't want to lose) as computer drives do fail, eventually
  • if you use a Mac, with OS Catalina (10:15) or later, then instead of iTunes, you use Finder