How to Copy Songs From the iPhone to a CD

Create a playlist and then burn it to a CD.

Copying iPhone songs to a CD involves two simple steps: Create a playlist of the songs you'd like to copy and then burn the playlist to a CD. But before you embark on this endeavor, sync your iPhone in iTunes. This ensures that all the songs or playlists that reside only on your iPhone copy over to your iTunes music library. Then you'll have your entire musical collection conveniently in one spot, from which you can pick, mix and merge the best medleys for your listening pleasure.

Instructions

Create a Playlist

1. Launch iTunes on your computer. Your screen presents a source sidebar on the left and a main pane on the right.

2. Click the "New Playlist" button, which looks like a "plus" sign on the lower left corner of your screen.

3. Type a new playlist name in the text box that appears below your existing playlists in the left sidebar, under "Playlists." Press "Enter" on your keyboard or click outside the text box to save the playlist name.

4. Click "Music," under "Library," toward the top of the left sidebar. Your entire musical collection appears on the main pane to the right.

5. Click-and-drag the songs you want to copy to a CD to your playlist. Click an individual song, or hold down the "Shift" or "Ctrl/Cmd" key to highlight multiple songs to move over. To copy an entire album, click the second icon from the "Search" box on the upper right to view your music library by album. Then drag the desired album's cover to the playlist.

6. Rearrange the songs in your playlist in the sequence that you would like them to play.

Burn a CD

1. Click the playlist you'd like to copy to a CD on iTunes' left sidebar, under "Playlists."

2. Insert a blank CD into your computer's CD drive.

3. Click "File" in the upper left and select "Burn Playlist to Disc."

4. Set your recording preferences in the pop-up "Burn Settings" dialog. Choose a "Preferred Speed" from "1x" to "Maximum Possible." Next, activate "Audio CD" as your "Disc Format." Specify a one- to five-second gap between the tracks on the CD or choose "None" for a gapless album. Then click "Use Sound Check" to ensure that all your songs play at the same volume.

5. Click "Burn." ITunes takes several minutes to copy your playlist songs to the CD. Eject your CD from the computer when iTunes is done recording. Test it by running it on a CD player.

Tips & Warnings

• To create a new playlist, you can also press the "Cmd" and "N" keys on a Mac, or "Ctrl" and "N" keys on a PC. Alternatively, select "File" and then "New Playlist" from the navigation menu on the upper left.

• In your burn settings, activate the "Include CD Text" check box if you plan to run your CD on a player that can display the artist and song title of each track. If your playlist requires multiple CDs, only the last CD will show this information. Previous CDs will only identify songs as Track 01, 02, 03 and so on.

• If you choose "MP3 CD" as your disc format, iTunes will copy only those songs from your playlist that are in MP3 format. Songs purchased from the iTunes Store are not in MP3 format.

References

• ITunes: CDs from Albums
• "Using iTunes 10"; Nancy Conner; 2011
• "IPod & ITunes Visual Quick Tips"; Kate Shoup; 2007

Resources

• Apple: Macintosh -- About CD-R and CD-RW Discs