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This includes a CD album published by friends of mine, not downloaded; and tracks that were/are on an iPhone or iPad.
I am on Apple Music 1.4.2.83 and Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.2
Margot,
What format are you starting with, and where is it located? The track you are trying to convert has to be a local copy on the computer (not in the cloud) and has to be an unprotected file. If you are starting with a CD, you can rip directly to MP3 by adjusting the Import Settings.
Thank you. I initially imported into the default iTunes/Apple Music format, AAC or whatever. It was from a CD. Nothing's protected, nothing's in the cloud, so far as this is concerned.
The 'Create MP3 version' is just greyed out. From reading the instructions all over, it shouldn't be. Yes, of course, I can deep-six this version of the album, and try importing again, having set MP3 as a default. We'll see if that works.
Regardless, according to all the online guidance I see, I should be able to create an MP3 copy from the AAC version I already have. And I can't.
Margot,
Do you have (or have you had) a subscription to Apple Music? If so, the files you originally created as AAC may have been replaced by AM subscription tracks, which are not convertible. If you are in Songs view, look at the column for "Kind" for any of the problem tracks, and make sure it still says "AAC audio file."
No, never subscribed. Nearly all my iTunes tracks over the years have been from CDs or from audio files that friends gave me. I'm just importing everything as MP3 going forward.
(At this juncture, I've found that I can copy both MP3 and AAC tracks from a late-model Mac Air onto a thumbdrive and then copy those onto the old Pismo and four-button iPod that I hooked up to a mini amp and speakers for a sound system. The rigamarole is very kludgy because that 3rd Gen iPod uses a Firewire connection and FW doesn't exist on current adapters.)
No, as I said, the convert option is greyed out. I gave up trying. I can however import albums or tracks as MP3, and MP3, AAC and WAV files all work when I copy them to my old iTunes.
'Create MP3 version' is greyed out for everything I attempt to convert.
