Instructions on How to Download Music to an iPod

by Roger Smith
Apple's iPod remains the most popular MP3 player on the market.

Apple's iPod remains the most popular MP3 player on the market.

musique image by Christophe Schmid from Fotolia.com

The iPod remains the most popular digital music player in the world today, bolstered by its ease-of-use, even for the decidedly non-technical. Apple has made it easy to download music from the Internet to an iPod through its iTunes software, available for both Windows and Mac operating systems. You can either purchase music directly in the iTunes store or find it elsewhere online before adding it to your music library and transferring it to your device in a simple drag-and-drop process. And, with most of the latest generation of iPods sporting multi-gigabyte hard drives, it's now possible to take your entire music library with you on the go.

Downloading Music From iTunes

Step 1

Navigate to the iTunes store, located in the left-hand panel of the software.

Step 2

Use the search bar at the top to look for the song or album you'd like to download. Most songs are available individually or as part of the entire album. Individual songs range in price from 99 cents to $1.29.

Step 3

Click the Buy button with the listed price. You'll be asked to log in to your iTunes account or create one if you don't have one. You can include your billing details on this screen. iTunes will automatically download and organize your new songs to your music library.

Downloading Music From the Internet

Step 1

If you wish to download music outside of iTunes, open your Web browser and navigate to a website with a link to the files you'd like to download.

Step 2

Right-click on the link and select "Save target as..." in Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, or "Download linked file as..." in Apple Safari.

Step 3

Choose a spot on your hard drive to save the files.

Step 4

In iTunes, click on the File menu and select "Add to Library..." This will open up a navigation window where you can choose your downloaded files. iTunes will then add them to your music library.

Transferring Music to Your iPod

Step 1

Once you have your files downloaded and added to your music library in iTunes, highlight the tracks you'd like to copy to your iPod. You can press the Command key on a Mac or the Control key on Windows to select multiple files.

Step 2

Connect your iPod using the iPod USB cable. The device will automatically appear in the left-hand panel of iTunes.

Step 3

Drag and drop your downloaded files onto the iPod icon. iTunes will copy them to the device.

Tip

  • Downloading tracks may take several minutes, based on the speed of your Internet connection.
  • The iPod Touch includes the ability to download songs via iTunes directly to the device without need of a computer.

Warning

  • Tracks downloaded from the Internet directly may be in violation of copyright laws. Only download files from the Web that are made available legally.

About the Author

Roger Smith is a journalist with three years of experience working for media outlets including eHow and Answer Bag. He worked on the student paper at the University of Southern California for three years.

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