How to Burn Songs on to a CD

Co-authored by Luigi Oppido and Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: September 19, 2024 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to burn song files, such as MP3s, onto a blank CD. If you want to be able to play the songs off of the CD, you'll need to burn the CD using iTunes or Windows Media Player. On iTunes, click File, and then Burn Playlist to Disc. You can also burn music files (along with other files) onto a regular CD using basic Windows or Mac settings.

Quick Guide: Putting Music onto a CD

To create an audio CD, insert a blank disc into the CD burner and open iTunes on your PC. Create a playlist containing the songs you want to burn, click "File" and select "Burn," check the "Audio CD" box, and click "Burn."

For popular FAQs on putting songs onto a CD, jump to more common questions.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Creating an Audio CD with iTunes

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Audio CDs differ from standard CDs in that they will automatically play audio when inserted into a CD player or stereo. When buying blank CDs, look for "recordable" or "audio" in the description.
2
Obtain a DVD drive if necessary. Most Mac computers and many Windows computers don't ship with optical drives (also known as DVD drives) into which you can insert a CD, meaning you might need to buy a USB optical drive. You can find these in tech stores and online.
- If your computer has an optical drive, look for the word "DVD" on or near the drive. If you don't see "DVD" there, the drive that you have cannot burn CDs and you'll still need to buy an external one.
- Make sure that your optical drive has burn capabilities. This feature should be mentioned in the product description.
- If you're using a Mac, you'll need a USB-C optical drive, or a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter.
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Place the CD face-up in the DVD drive's tray, then close the tray.
4
Open iTunes. Its app icon resembles a multicolored musical note on a white background.
5
Click File. This option is in the top-left corner of the iTunes window (Windows) or in the top-left corner of the screen (Mac). A drop-down menu will appear.
6
Select New. It's near the top of the File drop-down menu.
7
Click Playlist. You'll find this in the New pop-out window. A text field will appear in the iTunes sidebar.
8
Enter a playlist name. Type in your preferred name for your playlist, then press ↵ Enter. This will create the playlist in the left-hand sidebar of the iTunes window.
9
Add songs to the playlist. Click and drag songs from your library onto the playlist's title, then drop them there. You can do this one at a time, or you can select multiple songs by holding down Ctrl or ⌘ Command while clicking songs.
- If you aren't in library view, click the Songs section below the "Library" heading in order to view a list of your songs.
- You can add up to 80 minutes of music to a standard audio CD.
10
Select the playlist. Once you've added 80 (or fewer) minutes of audio to the playlist, click the playlist to open it.
11
Open the "Burn" menu. Click File again, then click Burn Playlist to Disc near the top of the drop-down menu. A new window will appear.
12
Check the "Audio CD" box. It should be in the middle of the menu.
13
Click Burn. This is at the bottom of the menu. Doing so will prompt iTunes to begin burning your playlist's songs onto the CD.
- This process can take up to half a minute per song, so be patient.
When the burning process completes, you can eject your CD from the optical drive and try playing it in a stereo (or another computer) to test it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Creating an Audio CD with Windows Media Player

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Audio CDs differ from standard CDs in that they will automatically play audio when inserted into a CD player or stereo. When buying blank CDs, look for "recordable" or "audio" in the description.
2
Obtain a DVD drive if necessary. Most Mac computers and many Windows computers don't ship with optical drives (also known as DVD drives) into which you can insert a CD, meaning you might need to buy a USB optical drive. You can find these in tech stores and online.
- If your computer has an optical drive, look for the word "DVD" on or near the drive. If you don't see "DVD" there, the drive that you have cannot burn CDs and you'll still need to buy an external one.
- Make sure that your optical drive has burn capabilities. This feature should be mentioned in the product description.
- If you're using a Mac, you'll need a USB-C optical drive, or a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter.
Place the CD face-up in the DVD drive's tray, then close the tray.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
5
Type in windows media player. This will search your computer for the Windows Media Player program.
- Not all Windows 10 computers have Windows Media Player built in, and you can no longer download Windows Media Player from Microsoft. If your computer doesn't have Windows Media Player, you'll need to use iTunes instead.
It's a blue, orange, and white icon at the top of the Start window.
You'll find this in the upper-right corner of the window.
8
Add music to the CD. Click and drag songs that you want to burn into the "Burn" sidebar, which is on the right side of the Windows Media Player window.
- If you can't see individual songs, first click the Music tab on the left side of the window.
- You can add up to 70 minutes of audio without Windows Media Player attempting to split the audio onto a second disk.
It's a white box with green checkmarks in it. You'll find it just below the Sync tab in the "Burn" section. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
This is near the top of the drop-down menu.
11
Click Start burn. It's in the upper-left corner of the "Burn" section. Your songs will begin burning onto the CD.
- Depending on the speed of your drive, this process may take several minutes.^{[1]
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When the burning process completes, you can eject your CD from the optical drive and try playing it in a stereo (or another computer) to test it.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Creating a Storage CD on Windows

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This can be a CD-R or a CD-RW, so long as it is blank.
2
Obtain a DVD drive if necessary. Most Mac computers and many Windows computers don't ship with optical drives (also known as DVD drives) into which you can insert a CD, meaning you might need to buy a USB optical drive. You can find these in tech stores and online.
- If your computer has an optical drive, look for the word "DVD" on or near the drive. If you don't see "DVD" there, the drive that you have cannot burn CDs and you'll still need to buy an external one.
- Make sure that your optical drive has burn capabilities. This feature should be mentioned in the product description.
- If you're using a Mac, you'll need a USB-C optical drive, or a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter.
Place the CD face-up in the DVD drive's tray, then close the tray.
Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
Click the folder-shaped icon in the lower-left side of the Start window.
On the left side of the window, click the folder in which the music files that you want to burn are located.
Click and drag your mouse across the files that you want to burn, or select individual ones by holding down Ctrl while clicking each one that you want to burn.
This tab is in the upper-left corner of the window. A toolbar will appear at the top of the File Explorer window.
It's an option in the "Send" section of the toolbar. Doing so prompts a pop-up window.
10
Click Burn. This is at the bottom of the pop-up window.
11
Click Finish when prompted. This will complete the burn process and, in some cases, eject the burned disc. Your music files are now stored on the CD.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Creating a Storage CD on Mac

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This can be a CD-R or a CD-RW, so long as it is blank.
2
Obtain a DVD drive if necessary. Most Mac computers and many Windows computers don't ship with optical drives (also known as DVD drives) into which you can insert a CD, meaning you might need to buy a USB optical drive. You can find these in tech stores and online.
- If your computer has an optical drive, look for the word "DVD" on or near the drive. If you don't see "DVD" there, the drive that you have cannot burn CDs and you'll still need to buy an external one.
- Make sure that your optical drive has burn capabilities. This feature should be mentioned in the product description.
- If you're using a Mac, you'll need a USB-C optical drive, or a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter.
Place the CD face-up in the DVD drive's tray, then close the tray.
4
Open Finder. Click the blue face icon in your Mac's Dock. A Finder window will open.
5
Select a file location. Click a folder on the left side of the window. This should be a folder that contains music files which you want to burn onto the CD.
6
Select songs to burn. Click and drag your mouse across the files that you want to burn, or select individual ones by holding down ⌘ Command while clicking each one that you want to burn.
7
Copy the songs. Click Edit in your Mac's menu bar, then click Copy Items in the resulting drop-down menu.
- You can also press ⌘ Command+C to copy these files.
8
Open your CD. Click your CD's name in the left-hand sidebar of the Finder window, or double-click your CD on your Mac's desktop.
9
Paste in the songs. Click Edit again, then click Paste Items in the drop-down menu.
- You can also press ⌘ Command+V to paste files.
10
Click File. It's a menu item in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
11
Click Burn. This option is in the File drop-down menu, and will have the CD's name to the right of it.
12
Click Burn when prompted. It's near the bottom of the pop-up window. Your music files will begin burning onto the CD.
When the burn is complete, you'll be prompted to click OK, at which point you can safely eject the disc. Your music files are now stored on your CD.

Common Questions: Adding Music to CDs

Can I put my own music on a CD?

If you have your music in .mp3 format, you can easily burn it to a CD with the methods above. If you needed, convert your music to the correct format first.

How do I download music from YouTube to a CD?

You must first download the music in .mp3 format. You can use a third-party website or program to do so, but be aware this can put your computer at risk of viruses.

Is it legal to put songs on a CD?

You can put songs on a CD as long as they are for personal use and not commercial purposes. It's illegal to burn copyrighted music onto a CD and sell them.

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Tips

CDs burned on Windows and Mac are generally usable on both platforms.

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Warnings

Spotify, Google Play Music, and other streaming services are not able to burn CDs, as their music is copyright-protected.

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