Tips

How does iTunes know which songs are on your CD?

The Compact Disc Database (CDDB) is an online service that keeps song identification information (also known as tags). CDDB supplies artist, album, and song names, in addition to the year the CD was recorded, and more, for more than three million albums. If you’re connected to the Internet, iTunes automatically gets your CD’s information when you insert the CD.

Get the best quality compression when importing music

When importing CDs with iTunes, iTunes will save your songs in a near CD quality format known as Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). AAC is the format of songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store. AAC provides higher quality with smaller file sizes than another popular format known as MP3.

Choose to import only certain songs

If you don’t want to import every song on a CD, you can deselect songs by clicking the box next to a song’s title and removing the check-mark. When you import the CD into iTunes, any songs without a check-mark will not be imported. If you change your mind later on, you can import just those songs by following the same instructions.

Getting song titles later if you’re not connected to the Internet

If you’re not connected to the Internet when you insert a CD you won’t see the titles of the tracks on the CD. When you do connect to the Internet again, you can select the song titles in your Library if you already imported them or insert the CD again, and then go to the Advanced menu and select Get CD Track Names.

Where does iTunes keep music on your computer?

If you’re using a PC, iTunes keeps your music in your My Music folder in your My Documents folder. If you’re using a Mac, iTunes keeps your music in the iTunes folder in your Music folder. The iTunes folder contains the files that keep track of what songs you have in your Library as well as a folder named iTunes Music that contains all your music files. Be careful not to delete or move anything in your iTunes folder, since you won’t be able to download music that you’ve purchased and already downloaded from the iTunes Music Store.

Setting up your music library in a different location

If you would like to keep your music in a different place, such as on an external hard disk, you can make the change with iTunes Preferences. In iTunes Preferences, click the Advanced tab, and in the General tab, click the Change button. In the window that appears choose the folder where you would like to store your music, and then click Choose. In the General tab, you can also choose to keep all your music organized and in one place on your computer. Note that this does not make an additional copy of your music but simply moves it to another location. If you would like to copy your files for backup or to move to another computer, go to the Back Up Your Purchased Music or Move Your Music to Another Computer topic. Move Your Music to Another Computer

Automatically import songs and eject your CD

When you have a lot of CDs that you want to import as quickly as possible, you might want to set iTunes to automatically import songs to your library as soon as you insert the CD. You can also set iTunes to automatically eject your CD when it’s done. This will save you quite a few mouse clicks if you have a lot of CDs to import. Start by opening iTunes Preferences. Click Advanced, and then choose the Importing tab. From the On CD Insert pop-up menu, choose "Import Songs and Eject."

Steps

Copy music from a CD to iTunes

1. Open iTunes, and then insert a music CD into your computer.
2. Click the CD name in the Source list to see the songs on the CD.
3. Uncheck any songs you don’t want to import. Only checked songs will be imported.
4. After you decide which songs to import, click the Import CD button in the upper right corner. iTunes will begin copying the music from your CD to your iTunes Library.
5. After all the songs are imported, click the Eject Disc button in the bottom right corner.