Can't I drag and drop music from Window Media Player to iPod Touch?

As far as I know you have to have itunes, itunes will automatically import all the music on your computer, then you put it on the iPod by 'syncing'. That's really the only way it works as far as I know.

Perks said:

Grrr. That's really limiting.

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It may be in some ways, but Windows would have to be responsible for adding that functionality to Windows Media Player, not Apple. WMA isn't an Apple product.

As veinglory said, you need to import the music into iTunes. From iTunes, you can drag and drop the music onto the iPod.

iTunes will by default make copies of the music you add to iTunes and make its own directory of music for you. If you want to keep the music where it is already, you'll have to uncheck that option. To do that, when you open iTunes, go to Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck the options "Keep iTunes folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes media folder." That way your music will stay where it is, and iTunes will just remember where they are.

With the iPod, you have the option of either manually dragging and dropping the song(s) you'd like on it, or have it automatically "sync" to whatever music you've imported to iTunes.

It annoyed me to in the beginning. But I have been sucked in to the functionality with audiobooks, podcasts, free streaming radio etc....

N.B., if you just use an iPod Touch as an mp3 player, you're missing out on a lot.

Perks said:

I don't use the thing at all. It's my daughter's. I think they're quite nifty, but I don't need it since I'm either at my computer or have my Nook. The iPod is too small for me to read pleasantly on and the last thing I need is the internet in my pocket. I need to look up occasionally.

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There are tons of apps that give it far more functionality than that.

Just make sure she doesn't use up the whole flash drive on games.

Oh, there's one for everything.

A thorough Googleation might turn up some alternatives...or more frustrated users.

Perks said:

"Oh Apple products are SOOOOO easy to use!"

My Aunt Fanny they are.

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As everyone before me has said, its all about iTunes and its stupid AAC files.
iTunes and iPods only work with files known as AAC or mp4s. So in order for iPods to play music, you have to get iTunes, which will then convert all your songs and put them on your iPod for you.
For this reason, I own a Zune. It does not have apps. But it has 120 gb, Sudoku, and wireless music sharing with other Zune owners. Tis all I need.

Sue Lahna said:

As everyone before me has said, its all about iTunes and its stupid AAC files.
iTunes and iPods only work with files known as AAC or mp4s. So in order for iPods to play music, you have to get iTunes, which will then convert all your songs and put them on your iPod for you.

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Err. No.

iPods are fine with mp3 or mp4, and the vast majority of music from any source is in mp3 format. You do need iTunes to add music to the iPod, but most music will be fine as-is.

For this reason, I own a Zune. It does not have apps. But it has 120 gb, Sudoku, and wireless music sharing with other Zune owners. Tis all I need.

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Err, as far as I know, Zunes also require their own proprietary software. There's no advantage there.

Perks said:

Hmmm. Every other device I have I can simply drag and drop the music into. They aren't specified as Windows Devices. They're just MP3 players made my Sanyo, RCA, etc or pen drives. I'll see if I can do what you said, though.

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Yeah, most cameras and mp3 players are all basically USB drives that use flash memory, and show up as a drive on Windows just like a memory stick or even an external USB drive, so you usually don't need to install a "driver."

But apparently Apple chose to "Think Different."

I've not installed iTunes (and lots of other software, p2p crap especially) because of all the stuff I've read about it (and all that other software) taking over significant parts of the system. Too much software thesedays does that sort of thing, and you can slow down a Windows system significantly just by installing lots of things - it runs slower than a new install does even when running only one app.

veinglory said:

It annoyed me to in the beginning. But I have been sucked in to the functionality with audiobooks, podcasts, free streaming radio etc....

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kuwisdelu said:

Err. No.

iPods are fine with mp3 or mp4, and the vast majority of music from any source is in mp3 format. You do need iTunes to add music to the iPod, but most music will be fine as-is.



Err, as far as I know, Zunes also require their own proprietary software. There's no advantage there.

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I wonder how many thing really REQUIRE added software or just have added features when the software is installed. Just plug in the USB cable and see what happens. If it looks like a new drive to Windows, that's all you need. What a lot of software does is run all the time in the background looking at what gets plugged in, and runs itself when it sees "that thing" plugged in and offers you all these extra features no one asked for.

BTW, Autoplay on things plugged in is something to be disabled, as it's one vector for viruses to propagate themselves when you plug in things like USB sticks. Yes, you can get a Windows system infected just by plugging in an infected memory stick, camera, whatever.

IMO, I do think it's silly you can't treat the classic iPods as a flash drive, but something that can do as many things as an iPod Touch can really needs some sort of front-end software manager.

I'm not sure how files purchased from the Windows Media Player store thing work, but if they won't import into iTunes, you can just burn them onto a CD and rip them into iTunes. It might be a bit time consuming if you've bought a lot of digital music, but it also gives you a physical back up of your purchases.

And wow, there's a lot of hate for iTunes here >.>

Also, @kuwisdelu, you can enable disk use for the classic iPods so they show up as an external drive for data use on computers through iTunes.

Oh okay, my mistake. I haven't used WMP for ages, so I thought maybe the Zune changed something with it.

Really, I don't think using iTunes is at all invasive. It keeps everything very organized and in one place, so I'd sacrifice a little time to import my music (which would be no small task in of itself) just for the convenience of organization

Perks you can connect the iPod and tell it "leave my music where it is you little bastard," and it will generate a list of all the music it finds. You can then drag and drop to the iPod, or create a custom playlists for your daughter and tell the iPod to just pay attention to those.

The problem is ENTIRELY with you; you're smarter than the average user.

Who will do incredibly stupid things. Really.

Perks said:

Actually, it did just as you've said here the first time I plugged in the iTouch, but I've since bought music and can't figure out how to make it do it again.

That's the magic I need. Hopefully I can figure out how to make it do it again.

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It's in the iTunes preferences, not hard to find or change. In Preferences, you want to look under the advanced tab and look at the options it gives you. In your case, it seems, these are the two boxes you want to make sure are unchecked:

Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized

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Copy Files to iTunes Media Folder when Adding to Library

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After you make sure the preferences match, use the "add to library" tool to add those new songs to the library.

I can't help much more without making an elaborate picture by picture tutorial that can be found with a simple google search. Hope this helped.

Perks

If you choose Copy Files to iTunes Media it will actually copy every mp3 you have, and put them in nested folders in the iTunes library, to wit Music/Artist Name/Album/Tracks.

That will duplicate files you have for Windows Media. It will take up additional space on your hard drive.

See Kuwi's post: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5123581&postcount=4

See the options you have in iTunes when the iPod is connected and you select the iPod icon in the Source list on the left of the iTunes window.