Q. Do digital songs from Amazon.com work on an iPod, and if so, how do you get them onto the thing from the Web?
A. The song files for sale in Amazon’s Digital Download area can work on just about any portable player that can handle MP3 files — including Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen and other devices.
These
MP3 files are referred to as “D.R.M.-free” and do not contain the
digital-rights management software used to restrict playback.
The
easiest way to move purchased Amazon music to the iPod is to download
the free Amazon MP3 Downloader from the site. This program works on
Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. There is a link to it on the main
MP3 Downloads page.
Once a user installs Amazon’s helper software, the albums and songs bought from the store are automatically dumped into iTunes.
From
there, they can be loaded onto an iPod like any other song, by
automatically synching the player with the computer or manually copying
them onto the iPod.
Users need the MP3 Downloader to buy multiple
songs and whole albums at once. Users can skip installing it if they
want to buy single songs one at a time. In that case, the MP3 files
land on the desktop (or wherever Web downloads are configured to go).
To get them into iTunes, just drag them onto the Library icon in the
iTunes window.
Users can also go to the iTunes File menu,
choose “Add to Library” and select the tracks on the hard drive to pull
them into the program.
