converting itunes music to mp3 files

Two things to note about obtaining music though the iTunes Store:

1. Apple used to sell music in a protected format, which cannot be converted. They stopped selling music in protected format in 2009, so if your purchases are more recent that that, they are not protected and it is possible to convert them
2. If the music is from Apple's subscription service, Apple Music, it is not purchased and it cannot be converted

You state that the music was purchased, so we'll work on that basis. I assume you mean purchased from the iTunes Store. If so, read all of the following. (For music purchased from other online stores, skip to the section below, headed How To Convert.)

To find out whether your songs are in protected format, select one of the songs in your iTunes Library and right-click/Song Info (or on iTunes' top bar menu, Edit/Song Info). This opens on the Details tab, so select the File tab and check the kind field (as shown below):

As you can see, my example states that the file is a Protected AAC audio file. A non-protected purchase from the iTunes store will state Purchased AAC audio file.

For songs that are not protected, read the next section on how to convert. There's an important set up procedure that must be completed first, don't skip it.

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How To Convert:

1. set the convert to option: using the screenshot below, set your iTunes programme to use MP3. To do this, on the iTunes top bar menu, select Edit/Preferences/General>Import Settings (that's steps 1, 2, 3 & 4 in the picture). You might think this is the incorrect method, since it mentions inserting CDs, but it is correct
2. on the Import Settings panel, set the Import Using option (5) to MP3 Encoder and then tap the OK button

Now you can convert the songs to MP3:

1. highlight a song to be converted
2. on iTunes' top bar menu, select File/Convert/Create MP3 Version. (Note that until you set the convert to option mentioned previously, this will not work.)
3. iTunes will now convert the file. Note though, that it creates a new version, leaving the old version in your library as well. So there are now two versions, but it is possible that the new version has been placed into a different folder than the original. It will still show up in your Library under the same information (album, artist, track title etc.)

I have just converted an AAC file to MP3 this evening, which confirms that the procedure does work. If you are still having problems, please let us know which of the steps above does not work as expected and why.

[Edited by Moderator]