6 ways to add music to your music library

Adding all of your digital music to your computer's music library will help you easily locate and organize your music collection. You can add songs and albums to your computer by placing them in libraries designed for iTunes (Mac or Windows), Windows Media Player (Windows), or a third-party music player. Usually the songs are added simultaneously to the internal library of the program and to a separate and specially designed music folder. The following article will detail how to copy (or import) audio compact discs (CDs), put audio files already on your computer into folders on music players, and purchase additional songs from online stores.

Steps

Method 1 of 6: Copy CD Audio Files in Windows Media Player

Step 1. Insert an audio CD into the CD-ROM (or CD / DVD-ROM) drive

After the CD loads, the computer will show you a menu with various options. These include "Burn", "Play", "Add to Playlist" and "Copy".

• If you've configured Windows Media Player to automatically rip audio CDs, it will launch the program and begin ripping the CD immediately.
• To change the setting in Windows Media Player to automatically rip a CD, open the program, right click on an empty space in the tab bar and go to "File", "Tools", "Options" and "Rip Music". Then select "Rip CD when inserted." You can always choose to automatically rip CDs or to rip them only when the "Rip" tab is open.

Step 2. Select "Rip" and allow the computer to automatically copy the CD

This action will bring up the "Rip" tab in Windows Media Player. Here you can select and deselect tracks to copy from a list.

The copied songs will automatically appear in the Windows Media Player library list and in the "Music" folder. If you have retrieved information on the CD from the Internet (Windows Media Player searches for it automatically), the audio files will appear in a folder that designates the artist name and a subfolder that designates the album name

Method 2 of 6: Import CD Audio Files into Tuna

Step 1. Open iTunes

Step 2. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM (or CD / DVD-ROM) drive

If you are connected to the Internet, iTunes will automatically load whatever information it can find on your particular audio CD.

Step 3. Decide if you want to import all tracks or manually select which tracks to import

Click "Yes" when the dialog box asks if you want to import all tracks into your iTunes library or "No" if you want to manually select which tracks to import.

Step 4. Allow iTunes to import your CD

The status of each track you import can be seen in the progress bar located at the top of the menu.

The imported songs will appear in the iTunes library list. They will also appear in the iTunes Music folder, if you have selected "Copy files added to library to iTunes Music folder" from the program's "Add to Library" menu

Method 3 of 6: Add Audio Files by Dragging and Dropping Into Your Music Library

Step 1. Open the media player of your choice

Make sure the music library section of the show is open, and not a playlist or section to burn.

Step 2. Select the file (or files) you want to move to the selected music library

Step 3. Drag them (by clicking and holding) to the music program menu

When the files are inside the program and a symbol appears to add the files (usually a "+" symbol near the files), you can drop them.

Step 4. Let the program automatically classify the files

Method 4 of 6: Add Audio Files to Windows Media Player with the "Add to Library" Menu Option

Step 1. Open Windows Media Player

Step 2. Right click on an empty space on the tab bar

Step 3. Select "File" and then "Add to Library"

Step 4. Select "My personal folders" or "My folders and others that I can access"

The "My personal folders" option allows you to select folders on your computer, while "My folders and others that I can access" allows you to select folders on networked computers as well as on your computer.

Step 5. Select the folders with the audio files you want to add and click "Add"

Step 6. Select "OK" to confirm the operation

Method 5 of 6: Add Audio Files to iTunes with the "Add to Library" Menu Option

Step 1. Open iTunes

Step 2. Open the "File" menu and select "Add to Library"

Step 3. Select the file or folder you want to add

If the option "Copy files added to library to iTunes Music folder" is selected, iTunes will automatically place newly added audio files in iTunes library and "iTunes Music" folder

Method 6 of 6: Buy Audio Files Through iTunes

Step 1. Make sure you are connected to the Internet

Step 2. Open iTunes

Step 3. Enter a song or artist name in the "Search in store" bar

The bar will appear in the upper right corner of the menu.

Step 4. Select a track on the results screen

You can filter the type of media you are looking for by clicking "music" to make the search engine show only music results. You can also listen to a 30 second snippet of each song.

Step 5. Click on the "Buy" link located next to the track

You will need to sign up for iTunes by entering your basic information, such as name, address, credit card information, and email, before you can purchase songs. This also includes creating an Apple ID and password.

Step 6. Enter your Apple ID and password at the entrance, and complete the transaction

The song will automatically be added to your iTunes library.

Advice

In Windows Vista, XP and 7, you can organize files in the "Music" folder by right-clicking on an empty space in the folder, then selecting "Sort by" and deciding how you want to organize your music. You can sort the files by name, date added, type, size and some other options. To organize the files in the iTunes Music folder, open iTunes (the program) and select "File," "Library," then "Organize Library" (or "iTunes Music," depending on the version of iTunes you have)

Warnings