[virtuouskate]

I realize my problem is more Apple-related than BlackBerry-related, but I'm getting absolutely nowhere with Apple/iTunes and now they want me to pay for customer support, so I hope someone here might have had the same problem and know how to help.

I have a bunch of songs in my iTunes library that I downloaded from CDs (and I mean legally-purchased CDs from reputable dealers, so the issue isn't that I've got bad files). I wanted to transfer my music library to my Playbook so I don't have to haul my iPod around everywhere--I take my Playbook anyway, so it just makes sense to consolidate. Since some of the CDs got damaged or lost in a recent move, I ponied up the $25 for iTunes Match and iTunes in the Cloud. (If you don't know what that is, you probably aren't going to know the answer anyway, but basically, they match songs in your library to songs in their store so that even if you don't have the original file, you can still download and share those songs.) I also got the iTunes Sync app from the App World on my Playbook and the corresponding file for my computer.

I ran iTunes Match and it apparently did what it was supposed to. Then I ran iTunes Sync, but about a fourth of my songs didn't make it to my Playbook. (Out of 610, 518 are on my Playbook now.) I checked iTunes and it looks like most of the songs that didn't make it to my Playbook say they were uploaded to the iTunes in the Cloud rather than matched with songs from the store. That's the first problem--I have no idea why it picked these particular songs to not be able to match since the individual songs and the full albums they're from are available for sale in the store, and other songs from the same albums (both those that were released as singles and those that weren't) were able to match and download to my Playbook. I can't even figure out how to download the files to my computer or find them if they're already on my computer. In the My Music folder are folders with the songs iTunes claims I've purchased from their store in 2007 and 2008, although I've never bought a song from iTunes (three of their so-called purchases were from CDs I already owned and the rest were paid downloads from Amazon MP3, mostly in the past year or so) and my credit card has never been charged for purchases I didn't make.

I did copy the files from my iPod to my computer's hard drive but since most of them are helpfully renamed to things like "FALX" and "KBPQ" I have no idea what they are. Also, most of them are M4A or M4P files, not MP3, and my computer claims it has no idea what to do with them, so I can't play them to see what they are.

All that to say, how the heck can I get my music onto my Playbook without tearing my hair out? If it helps any, I'm using a computer with Windows XP and the latest version of iTunes (think it's 10.6.something). Of the songs that aren't working properly, it's about evenly split between songs I imported from CDs and ones that I bought from Amazon. As far as I know, I do not have any illegally-obtained music on my computer. If I just copy the iPod files, will the Playbook know what to do with the M4A and M4P files?

Thanks SO much for any help!

[SwitchBeach]

M4P files are protected with DRMs. They cannot be played on the Playbook.

Also, iTunes Match doesn't seem to indicate that you will be able to download files from it. The page says that you will be able to stream it to your Apple iOS devices from the iCloud.

Also, I don't see anything about it being able to deal with songs where you don't have the file anymore for songs that were ripped from CDs.

And typically you can't "copy files from an iPod" into a usable format onto the computer unless you use some software to 'liberate' the songs.

For the unprotected song files on your computer, you should be able to just copy them over to the Playbook directly rather than using some sync software.

[virtuouskate]

M4P files are protected with DRMs. They cannot be played on the Playbook.

I thought they were. That's why I wanted iTunes Match. The official description on Apple's iTunes website says, "With iTunes Match, all your music � even songs you�ve imported from CDs � can be stored in iCloud. So you can access your music from all your devices and listen to your entire library, wherever you are."

Their blurb about iCloud says, "With iTunes in the Cloud, the music you buy from the iTunes Store automatically appears on all your devices. And for music you haven�t purchased from iTunes, iTunes Match is the perfect solution. iTunes Match is built right into iTunes on your computer and the Music app on your iOS devices. It lets you store your entire collection in iCloud, even music you�ve imported from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes. When it�s in iCloud, it�s available on all your devices. So you can enjoy all your music anywhere, anytime � on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV."

In the FAQs below the description it says that "On a computer, any songs stored in iCloud will stream over the air when played, though you can download them at any time by clicking the iCloud download button." But I don't have an iCloud download button. I looked at the screenshots and the download icon came up when I first started, it said it was loading, then the icon disappeared. As best I can figure, it downloaded the songs automaticallly to my computer without me telling it to. But I don't know how to access the iTunes songs on my computer (or if it's even possible, since the program saves everything in its own proprietary file type).

If I can't figure out this iMatch thing, how hard is it to convert the iPod files to a usable format? Is that even legal, since you have to remove the DRM protection?

[SwitchBeach]

"All your devices" means all your devices running iOS. Not all your devices period.

"....on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV."

I'm guessing (and this is only a guess since I can't see your system) that you will not get the "Download" button for songs that already exist on that computer. Is that the case for the songs where you are seeing this?

You can access the songs on your computer by navigating to the iTunes folder. It's usually in your MyMusic folder. If you don't know where that is on your computer, right click on a song in iTunes and select "Show in Windows Explorer". This will take you to the folder where that song is located.

[pacoman03]

I did copy the files from my iPod to my computer's hard drive but since most of them are helpfully renamed to things like "FALX" and "KBPQ" I have no idea what they are. Also, most of them are M4A or M4P files, not MP3, and my computer claims it has no idea what to do with them, so I can't play them to see what they are.

The mp3 filess that you copied over from your ipod should appear in the native music player with their proper names, artists etc. The native player doesn't get that info from the file name, but rather from the tags associated with the file, which your ipod doesn't change.

[530XI]

Personally, I dislike iTunes.

[SwitchBeach]

Personally, I dislike iTunes.

Completely irrelevant.

[Blkacesvf41]

Skate
You should be able to use the BlackBerry desktop software to move your music from itunes to your playbook, that's how I do it.

[foghorn_leghorn]

When I first got my playbook I figured I would have problems with music in itunes. But as Blkacesvf41 mentioned in the previous post, the BB desktop software works great at synching itunes music (except for some issues with playlists). If your music did indeed download from icloud, you should be able to see it in desktop manager - just click on music and you should see artists, albums & playlists. Hope you can get this working - the sound quality on the playbook is pretty decent and the music player works for me.

[pacoman03]

Hi, i have just downloaded Sync My I Tunes at blackberry playbook. It's working good. I suggest you to use this. It is new app at blackberry playbook for synching I tunes from your computer to Playbook.

For your help i am giving its link below.


Buy Sync My iTunes - Download Sync My iTunes - Buy Apps from BlackBerry App World

Hmmmmmmm. It's ok to recommend an app even if you're the developer of the app. But if you're going to recommend an app you developed, at least identify yourself as the developer- don't pass yourself off as some disinterested third party. Now, why do I say you're the developer- you've posted a total of 18 times on Crackberry, and in these posts you recommended four different apps. These four apps all have the same publisher. Is that pure coincidence? I don't think so.

[bdegrande]

If you paid your $25 for iTunes Match, even your old DRM protected files will be replaced in the cloud with higher bit rate unprotected versions. You CAN download these to your computer, and they will stay there even if you no longer pay your $25/year in the future. Once you have done this, they should be able to transfer them to your PlayBook.