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Can't convert my apple music to MP3 format in spite of following directions from Apple support

I either imported or bought most of my music in the days of iTunes. With the updated Mac OS (I now have Big Sur) and the movement of all the music to the new Music App, I now can't seem to convert any of my songs to MP3 format in spite of changing import settings in the Preferences menu to MP3. When I highlight the song desired and choose the Convert To> menu item, the choice for MP3 format is inactive (greyed out). Any suggestions?

Mac mini, macOS 11.5

Posted on Sep 9, 2021 6:25 PM

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Posted on Sep 10, 2021 4:36 PM

You cannot turn a wav, aac, or aiff file into .mp3 format simply by changing the file extension. The file may be able to import and play in applications which inspect the internal structure rather than relying on the extension to identify the proper handler, but you won't make an mp3 file that is compatible with a third party mp3 player for example, that is only able to play valid mp3 files.


tt2

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Sep 10, 2021 4:36 PM in response to TheLittles

You cannot turn a wav, aac, or aiff file into .mp3 format simply by changing the file extension. The file may be able to import and play in applications which inspect the internal structure rather than relying on the extension to identify the proper handler, but you won't make an mp3 file that is compatible with a third party mp3 player for example, that is only able to play valid mp3 files.


tt2

Sep 9, 2021 8:15 PM in response to Bethies_1

I recently upgraded to Big Sur from Mojave (and the Music apps from iTunes). I just tried the procedure in the 'Convert songs in your music library' section of:

Convert a song to a different file format with the Apple Music app or iTunes for Windows - Apple Support

and it worked for me. Are you sure the song(s) you are trying to convert are PURCHASED from the iTunes Store (or imported from a CD, etc.). Music that you LEASE with an Apple Music subscription are DRM copy protected and cannot be converted. That is the only explanation I can think of. If you still have problems, use the 'Get Support' link at the top-right corner of this page.


Sep 10, 2021 10:22 AM in response to turingtest2

turningtest2 Said:

“That creates a duplicate copy of the file where the format of the file implied by the file extension differs from the format defined by the internal structure of the file. It won't work. As noted above DRM protected content from the Apple Music subscription service cannot be converted to a new format.”

———-


Works just fine for me :)

Sep 11, 2021 6:01 AM in response to javaliga

Thank you for your feedback. I followed the directions on this support page referenced, but unfortunately it has not worked for me. One thought that I had was that I have been subscribing to iTunes match service for the last few years, and I wonder if it has converted all the songs I imported from previously purchased CDs into DRM protected files?

Can't convert my apple music to MP3 format in spite of following directions from Apple support

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