Converting MPEG-4 to MP-3

If they are unprotected AAC (MP4) files you'll have to convert them in iTunes first. Just be aware that converting from one lossy format to another will affect the quality. Afterwards put them in a playlist then go to Edit>Preferences>Advanced>Burning and choose MP3 CD: How to convert a song to a different format

If the files are protected iTunes Store downloads they won't convert. They have to be burned to an audio CD and imported back as MP3 to change the format.

One noteworthy point is that the iTunes MP3 encoder is not of the greatest standard. For better results you should use iTunes to convert to WAV format and then use the LAME MP3 encoder (available as a free download).

Question:
What happens if, once you convert songs in a playlist to mp3 format, the songs STILL show AAC?

What did you do to convert them?

I did exactly what iTunes said, i changed the preferences so when i went to "advanced" it said, "convert to mp3." I converted an entire playlist so i could make an mp3 cd, but when i went to burn the cd, it said the files were still in AAC format. It went through the converting process for about 20 minutes but i guess it never really changed the format. I don't know what else to do.

I had to do that myself this weekend. To download an MP3 format, you have to have MP3 files. So you have to highlight the file/album and convert them from MPEG-4 to MP3 format (using the appropriate button). You will then have two sets of files, one is MPEG-4 and the other MP3, for the same song/songs. It doesn't really convert one to another, but creates an additional file, in MP3 format, but keeps the pre-existing MPEG-4 file as well. So, when you want to download the MP3 format, you have to select all the correct files that have MP3 format, not the MPEG-4 format. This "conversion" process doubles the content of files on your computer, since you end up having two files for each original one. If you need to, you can search out the location of the files in the "iTunes" library file, sort them by file type (MPEG vs MP3 suffix), and eliminate those that you don't want.