A common task that arises for consumers is converting music saved in CD or CDA format to MP3 to be used on MP3 or other multimedia players. This allows consumers to transfer music legally purchased online or in a brick-n-mortar store on CD to be played on portable music players without incurring additional cost. One of the more popular applications used to convert CD to MP3 format is the freely available iTunes multimedia player available on the Windows and MAC platforms. For Windows users, the freely available Windows Media Player can also be leveraged to achieve the same result.

Convert CD to MP3 Using iTunes

Step 1 – Download and install the iTunes application on your computer.

Step 2 – Ensure you toggle the iTunes view to be in “List View.”

Step 3 – Insert the music CD into your computer’s CD/DVD drive. It iTunes does not automatically launch the CD, open it using the “File” menu on the player.
How to convert CD to MP3
Step 4 – Right click in the category bar or select “View,” and “View Options. Then add the “Kind” menu options from the list of those displayed.

Step 5 – Select the “Kind” menu heading to sort by the file type of the music.

Step 6 – Choose the files on the CD to convert and then right click. Choose the “Create MP3 version” from the menu options to convert the CD files to MP3.

Step 7 – Select the top of the left bar and sort the music by “Date Added” to see the converted MP3 music at the top of the new music listing.

Step 8 – Drag the new MP3 songs to a new music list to have them consolidated to a central location for further manipulation.

Convert CD to MP3 Using Windows Media Player

 

Step 1 – Download and install Windows Media Player if it is not already installed on your computer.

Step 2 – Launch the player by double clicking the program icon on your computer’s desktop or by selecting from the “Program Files” submenu of the “Start” menu. These instructions are based on Windows Media Player 10 and may be slightly different based on what specific version you are using on the target computer.

Step 3 – Select the “Rip” menu tab. Note the location of the destination drive for post-rip.

Step 4 – Insert the CD containing the music to rip to MP3 into your computer’s CD/DVD drive.

Step 5 – Right click the word “Rip” if Windows Media Player does not automatically recognize the CD. Then select the menu item to choose the music CD.

Step 6 – Change the default settings of the player to rip the music to MP3 format by selecting “Tools,” “Settings,” and the “Rip Music” menu tabs. Change the default menu option from WMA to MP3.

Step 7 – Select the “Ok” menu button and the “Rip Music” menu link to copy the CD files to MP3 format on your computer.