How do I download songs to my MP3 player?

Hi Dave, I just got a brand new Samsung D500 and I want to put music onto it via USB cable, but it won't work. How do I do it?

Dave's Answer:

First off, a disclaimer: I don't have a Samsung D500 so I can't test out what I'm going to explain here. However, just about all the MP3 players on the market work in the same way - and it's how the Sony PSP works too, in fact - so let's just talk about the general solution for downloading music onto an MP3 player.

The first step is to see if there's any special software available from the vendor to help the process along. With the D500, for example, go to the Samsung Web site and click on "Support", then type in the product name. I typed in D500 and then choose "TV, video and audio". Wrong choice: no matches. I tried again with "Computer and related products" and got a list of three possible matches, one of which is your product, the SGH-D500.

Turns out that the D500 is a mobile phone, actually, not a simple MP3 player at all (wish you would have mentioned that, btw!) but I figured it out. Turns out that there's a raft of different user manuals available on the D500 download center page, and, clicking on the Software tab, it turns out that there's software you can download from Samsung too, including "Samsung PC Studio PC Sync (ver 2.0)" which is probably what you'd want.

Generally, though, if you don't have any software or can't find anything for your MP3 device (which, as you can see, includes cellphones!) then you should be able to copy across MP3-format audio files by:

Hooking up the device to a USB connection on your computer.
Going through the settings on your device to find a "USB CONNECT" or "USB MODE" option. Some devices do that automatically when they detect power on the USB cable, others (like the Sony PSP) require you to do it manually).
Your computer should now automatically detect the device, probably showing it as a removable hard disk. Both Macs and Windows XP computers do a very good job with this, older operting systems can be more challenging (e.g., Windows 98, MacOS 9).

Now you just need to rummage around a bit and figure out where music files should be stored. One way to do this is to pay for one song to be downloaded from a service, if that's an option, then see if you can find where it's stored on your MP3 device and drop other songs into the same place. If that's not an option, then just put a few songs in different directories and see if your device can find it once you disconnect and try to play a song or two.

Hope that helps you out! If anyone wants to send me a fancy MP3 player so I can test it out, I'd be happy to hear from you. :-)

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Reader Comments To Date: 671

carolina crescenti said, on November 3, 2007 11:24 AM:

this site is pretty cool,if u ask me.i found exactly what i wanted,without going to store to ask.

so thanx,

carolina

Melissa said, on November 7, 2007 12:15 AM:

I have an MP3/ MP34 player and when i plug it into the computer it comes up with all the music files i have downloaded onto it but when i look on the MP3 player they aren't anywhere!!!

Claudia said, on November 20, 2007 4:56 PM:

Hi there, i really need your help, i have a Sony player mp3/wma/rec 256M, But i don't have the driver, could you help me please?

Dave Taylor said, on November 21, 2007 9:44 AM:

Claudia -- and everyone else who has asked about drivers for your mp3 players -- please check this out:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_to_find_download_driver_sony_mp3_player_windows.html

Lisa said, on November 24, 2007 6:27 AM:

I bought myself a MP3 player.. But i have no earthly idea on how to use it.. Please help..

nafisa said, on November 27, 2007 8:31 PM:

hi i have a sansa mp3 player i wana dowload songs but do know how to please help

thank you

angie bowman said, on November 28, 2007 2:11 AM:

I have a TGE HB500 mp4 player I bought off someone and it didnt come with instructions on how to download music on it could you please tell me how or what to do..thank you.

Ef3LIO said, on November 29, 2007 12:26 AM:

i plugged my mp3 player in and it said it cant recognize the usb connection so i clicked on safely remove hardware and accident disabled the usb port or sumthing so now i cant put songs on my mp3 player , how do i re enable it because its nowhere to be found on my computer, plzzz HELP ME PLZZZ!!!

amanda said, on November 30, 2007 10:50 AM:

ok i just bought my daughter an mp3 player for xmas and i am not sure how to download music on to it.can you please explain.i hope this is easy.thank you

grace said, on December 3, 2007 9:36 PM:

i've got an MP3/MP4 player and want to synchronize songs from my computer, but it says 'may not fit'. what should do?

Marcos Rivera said, on December 6, 2007 10:37 PM:

Hi

I just bought my daughter an MP3/4 for christmas, this came with a small cd, and I need some instructions in how to download music into this unit, please give me a reply. Thank you.

michael said, on December 8, 2007 9:11 AM:

hi i have an mp3 player and i want to download a song but it won't let me wat do i do

devon said, on December 9, 2007 4:24 PM:

hi, i have had my coby mp3 player for a long time now and i got it like a few mounths ago and i know how to download songs but what i really whant to know is how do you download videos onto your mp3 player i asked everyone please tell me!!

awnser me on my e-mail please if anyone knows

pussycat-devon@hotmail.com

NO ONE said, on December 10, 2007 1:30 PM:

hey I just bought a mp4 but I dont know how to download music on it help me please and my computer wont even detect it to tell.HELP ME PLEASE.

Samantha said, on December 10, 2007 5:20 PM:

Heyy Dave!!

i want to know how to download music onto anm[3 player from youtube and thats it and i am not understanding the directions that you are giving me so send me some other ones on this email if you want to it is Sk8erbabe0102@hotmail.com so message me and tell me on to do it ok...?

karlee said, on December 16, 2007 12:01 AM:

hey dave,
i've just found out about you and i thought i'd give u a try...
how do you download songs from lime wire to your MP3 not i-pod MP3 player??????

byeeee

Marco said, on December 19, 2007 11:47 PM:

hey i just recieved my mp3 player from eBay but i cant happen to drag music from itunes to my mp3 i feel like im gonna explode man!!!!! plz help!

Justina Pryor said, on December 21, 2007 9:06 AM:

HIN I JUST BROUGHT A MP3 PLAYER,AND I DON;T KNOW HOW TO PUT MUSIC ON IT

Kedisha Charles said, on December 21, 2007 9:21 AM:

I just got an MP4 an iboost and my sister is telling that it is hard to find what you are looking for. How do i get songs and videos on my MP4?

Danielle said, on December 21, 2007 3:06 PM:

i just got a new samsung yp-k3jqb mp3 player for christmas but i can't put songs onto it.. how do i do this?

zuleyka roman said, on December 21, 2007 3:27 PM:

i just bought a new mp3 but i dont know how to put music!can you help me!!

morisha said, on December 23, 2007 7:52 AM:

I just got a mp3 player/cell phone for christmas. how do I download music?

John Burkhalter said, on December 23, 2007 11:18 AM:

Dave,
My brother sent me a peanut size MP3 player
and I was able to download music but am not
sure how to erase it if I want to change what
music I installed.It came with a Utilities
disc.Please help Thank you for your time
John

david said, on December 24, 2007 2:07 PM:

a i got a digital mp3player sharper image and how do i get music on it whats steps do i take

Tramina said, on December 25, 2007 7:13 AM:

dave how do i donwload music to my slick player?

Bethany Vale said, on December 25, 2007 7:56 AM:

hey!!.. i have just got a Philips mp3 player for christmas.. i have installed the cd and downloaded windows media player 11 but i still cant get my music or any music onto it. It is drving me crazy. Plus all my music is on itunes so i was also wondering if i could put my music on there onto my mp3.. but that doesnt matter so much as i can get cds.
Please reply..
thanks
Beth x

kristin said, on December 25, 2007 8:00 AM:

i bought a mp3 player and i cant download songs onto it from itunes!! can you please help me?!?!

Shanell Rodgers said, on December 25, 2007 10:57 AM:

I keep looking throgh google and im tryna find a site that will let me download songs really for free not just for a certian amount of money bt for free really and I juat can't find a site that will let you download songs on an mp3 player for free please help me

Jess said, on December 25, 2007 11:20 AM:

Hey,
I have just got a new MP3, and I have know idea how to download songs, the steps above didn't help me one bit, im really stuck, what do i do? :S

Zoey said, on December 25, 2007 1:28 PM:

The question below is one I found here, I need an answer for it!!!!
Help! I am trying to transfer songs to my MP3 player from itunes. I have an MP3 folder and put it in there, tried copying and pasting, not working! What should I do? Thanks for your time. -Zoey

chris said, on December 25, 2007 3:52 PM:

i dont how download music to my mp3 i just got it for christmas i got a little cd it

shane said, on December 25, 2007 5:53 PM:

i have an mp3 my dad bought for me this christmas and i doont know how to put songs onto it,
i dont know what brand it is and im using limewire.i just dont know what to put the music on to download it onto my mp3

kay kay said, on December 25, 2007 7:50 PM:

How do i download songs on to my Mp3 Player I don`t have a clue and i can`t understand the directions?help????!!!!!

brandon said, on December 25, 2007 9:14 PM:

on my windows media player i put the usp cord that connect to the back of my comp. but it when i try to put it on it cant detect the psp how do i fix that

Tami Latko said, on December 26, 2007 10:01 AM:

I just got a mp4 player for christmas and I have no idea how to add music to it. Can you please help me?? The User manual gives no advice.

jay giles said, on December 26, 2007 10:15 AM:

Hi, I received aTGEGroup HB500 mp4 video player from my sons for X-mas.I tried to set up my computer with the mini disc that came with it without success.I tried to e-mail the tech. support address that came with th instructions and yahoo and google say it doesn't exist.Can you give me some kind of direction on where to go from here.Thankyou in advance for your help.

Jay

keiara said, on December 26, 2007 12:51 PM:

I'm trynna learn how to download songs on my mp3 playa,but I dont kno how to.

Janelle said, on December 26, 2007 4:15 PM:

I am trying to download music from Limewire onto my MP3 player and I do not know how to do that. Can you please help.

popeye said, on December 26, 2007 5:36 PM:

Whats up Dave?
How do I get my Mp3 player working, What is the first thing I ouuta do when I tsake it out of the box?

miya said, on December 26, 2007 5:52 PM:

i just got this new mp4 player it is just like an mp3 plyare and i dont know how 2 put songs on there i need help

brandi said, on December 26, 2007 8:10 PM:

I JUST GOT A MP3/OR MP4 PLAYER 4 X-MAS IN I DONT NO HOW TO DOWNLOAD MUSIC ON IT I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!

Destiny said, on December 26, 2007 8:26 PM:

Dave,My brother said he would help me download songs on my mp3 player but he didn't and can you please give me information about putting songs on my mp3 player PLEASE

da 1 & only monalicous said, on December 26, 2007 10:15 PM:

i got a new mp3 player a couple of months ago and still doesnt know how to work it.i've went step by step bystep on the directions and it still doesnt seem to cooperate with me.WHAT DO I DO?PLEASE HELP ME!

marcia said, on December 27, 2007 4:06 PM:

how do you download music onto a sharper image mp3 player and also get it to charge

veronica said, on December 27, 2007 9:03 PM:

hi, i just bought my son this tge mp4 player but I can not figure out how to download any videos or pictures onto it. how can i do this. please help me if/when you can. thanks,
~frustrated ''

no name said, on December 27, 2007 9:06 PM:

~!i just got a coby mp3 player and i don't know how to put songs on it and i want to go by the quick start guide but it saide i need a cd to put songs on it and i thought that u can go on the internet and do it from there an then it say that you have to go on the rip format and do it from there and it does not tell any details and i don't know so can you help me on this~!

Jamie said, on December 27, 2007 11:29 PM:

hey, i have a hb500 mp4 video player and i put some cds on it all in wma format. They won't play even when i press the play button! Please help me out with this asap!

-jamie

Mariam said, on December 28, 2007 2:26 PM:

supp? i got an mp3 player but i cant download any songs on it pleeze help! thanx.

Susan Jacoby said, on December 28, 2007 3:43 PM:

I received an Mp3 player for Christmas from my boyfriend that was already loaded with music. How did he do this since the player was in an unopened package?

Ashley said, on December 28, 2007 7:22 PM:

hey, ok i bought an mp4 dude and its totally cool but the only thing i cant do is download soemthing unto it..........DUDE!!!!!!

ann said, on December 29, 2007 7:53 AM:

i have a philips sa2120 mp3player.i have no idea what to do. can you please help, step by step instructions for a beginner would be appreciated and a great gift for my partial sighted daughter.

Thamar said, on December 29, 2007 9:05 AM:

I have a nextar digital mp3 player and I can't find a way to get a couple of songs. Could you help me out in this situation.

computer nut said, on December 29, 2007 6:43 PM:

i got a TGE 1GB MP3 player and when i turn it on it says "Locked!!!".Please write back and help i would like that

Courtney said, on December 30, 2007 12:38 PM:

I got an MP3 player and tried downloading songs to it but it wouldn't let me. help please.

Megan said, on December 30, 2007 3:58 PM:

i just got a ipod nano for christmas and i have limewire.I tried everything to downloads music from limewire to my ipod. help me!!

Shirley said, on January 1, 2008 2:40 PM:

Hey dave i have a nokia 5300, its a mp3 player and i dont know how to put music. can you help me please?

Anthony said, on January 1, 2008 4:51 PM:

I have a GPX MP3 player I bought my newphew for Christmas and have a 2000 computer. He wants a certain CD downloaded to his little MP3 player. Can't figure out what I need to do to get my computer to play it and move it to the GPX Mp3.
Some folks say I can get free software. Where? What?

Please help!

sandra wright said, on January 1, 2008 6:11 PM:

I HAVE A NEXTAR MP4 PLAYER DOWNLOADING MUSIC IS EASY ENOUGH, IT'S THE PICTURES I WANT TO TRY ALONG WITH VIDEOS, DAVE I KNOW YOUR'E BUSY COULD YOU SEND ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS. HAPPY NEW YEAR...SANDY

sandra wright said, on January 1, 2008 6:23 PM:

...for downloading music to a mp3 player go to your media player site. Rip the cd to your computer, then click on the Sync tab, and click shuffle music, here you can drag selected songs to the column on your right, after everything is synced it will automatically rip the songs to your player. I just kept at it and got it as I'm sure you will too. I listen to Beyouce regulary, and changes it by going to the sync tab again, click on shuffle and choose what I wanna hear and let the computer handle it's business.

destiny said, on January 4, 2008 5:27 PM:

how do i get songs on a mp3 player please tell me know love destiny huston the huston family

bob said, on January 5, 2008 10:27 AM:

i have a new mp3 that wont take songs on it what do i do ps. ive tried everything =)

David said, on January 11, 2008 4:18 PM:

hey dave i have a Nike Philips MP3 Player PSA610 and i lost the cd with the program that i need to be aBLE to trnasfer songs from my pc to my mp3.
where else can i get the program?

CHANELLE said, on January 12, 2008 10:41 AM:

hi
i got a mp4 for xmas and i do not no how to download songs from the internet,i got a cd with it if that will help you answer my qustion.
HELPME PLEASE

chadhawkins said, on January 12, 2008 2:26 PM:

how do put my music that a downloge off µTorrent on my nexterdigital mp3player

natalie said, on January 13, 2008 10:29 AM:

How do I put music on my mp3 player I got it for christmas and i still dont have a clue.Dave can you please help me??!!

nshay said, on January 19, 2008 2:25 PM:

well i got an mp3 player for christmas and its great but the only thing is that i dont know how to download songs.this is the only problem too.can you please talk to me and teach me how to download songs cause it would really help if i knew how to put some of my favorite songs on it.thank you so much for your time.if you know how to download some songs you can contact me at :anaenae@yahoo.com

marie said, on January 20, 2008 2:35 PM:

well am haveing problems with downloading music and i don't know how its not working out

juan said, on January 20, 2008 4:07 PM:

hey my computer doesnt want to read my nokia 5300 and i know its not the usb ports because i have other things and the work just fine. I've tried to troubleshoot it, but the box problem says that "this device is working properly".....what do i do

debbie said, on January 21, 2008 8:34 PM:

hi !

i am trying to get my grand daughters mps going , have done it before!
this time i got the music i wanted on it , then i got a update note on the mp3 player
cant get rid of it , even went in to there site and did the update

Brad said, on January 22, 2008 11:15 AM:

Hi i got a insignia mp3 for christmas and still can down load songs on it i dont no if you can refer me to a site that will lut me do it,i got a disk from best by but i cant find a computer that will down load it it keeps telling me i need windos higher than windos 98,99 so ive been very lost i would apresheate it if you could help me out david also i tryed limewier and that dident work.

Brad said, on January 22, 2008 11:24 AM:

Hi i got a insignia mp3 for christmas and still can down load songs on it i dont no if you can refer me to a site that will lut me do it,i got a disk from best by but i cant find a computer that will down load it it keeps telling me i need windos higher than windos 98,99 so ive been very lost i would apresheate it if you could help me out david also i tryed limewier and that dident work.

raven said, on January 26, 2008 7:24 PM:

i have an mp3 player and i got it tonight at
wal*mart but i really need help with it dont know how to work it so help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Joe said, on January 27, 2008 8:28 PM:

i got a local rappers CD and i wanna put those songs on my mp3... but when i download the songs from the cd to my itunes it doesnt let me put it on my mp3......

why ?????
and how do i put the songs from the cd onto the mp3 ?????

jim said, on January 31, 2008 12:25 PM:

i have a zen mp3 player and i need to know how to download music on it help me!

ashley..love said, on February 1, 2008 12:30 PM:

all i can say is heeeeeeeeeeeellllllllpppp... i lalways get other people to download songs for me im trying to do it myself now, please help.i have a cd :new curtis album by 50 cent how do i download it to my mp4? ps 11yr old ashley

ashley...love said, on February 1, 2008 12:34 PM:

ok i have to the cord plugged in and i put the cd in a list of all the songs popped up and i tried to copy it but even though my mp4 is plugged in nothin pop up to download(no program for my mp4) 1dk how to do this please explain to me im kinda stupid so yea...

ashley...love said, on February 1, 2008 12:36 PM:

dave your mean!!!!!!!! u keep giving me the same answers not matter what the question is..are u even on the computer answering peoples questions? :/ ??????????

ashley...love said, on February 1, 2008 12:38 PM:

everybody listen!!!!!!!!!!!!! dave is giving the same answer to everyone!!!!!!!same exact words

Dave Taylor said, on February 1, 2008 8:33 PM:

and what answer do you want me to share, Ashley? Just because people word the questions differently doesn't mean that the same answer can't cover 'em all. :-)

sian said, on February 2, 2008 10:12 AM:

hey i just got a new like fake i pod thing n it can store videos but i have no idea how to download them on to it
plz help

No Info said, on February 3, 2008 2:55 PM:

How do you download music onto a MP3 player?

jasmine said, on February 4, 2008 5:45 PM:

i need to know how 2 put songs on my mp3 player

Farhad said, on February 5, 2008 12:19 PM:

i have acoustic solution mp3 player and i dunno how to put songs into it i really need help

david said, on February 7, 2008 9:53 AM:

i got a mp3 can i download songs on to it from itunes?

holly southee said, on February 8, 2008 9:00 PM:

hi i have a mp3 player and i cant seem to put my videos onto it can you help me??

Zoe said, on February 9, 2008 9:30 AM:

Pls i am trying to download songs on my mp4 using the internet instead of using cds pls help.

robby said, on February 9, 2008 2:21 PM:

hi mate i av jst got a ipod nano mp4 video sml silver 1 and wen i plug it in 2 the usb theres nothing at all would u pls tell me what 2 o

wesley rose said, on February 10, 2008 5:42 PM:

my little cousin just got an RCA-TH100A mp3 player...and we have no clue on how to put music on it. can you help us out?

Greg said, on February 14, 2008 9:27 AM:

I just purchased A Sandisk MP3 Player. Is there anyway to get my music off of Itunes on to it?

leonard docerty said, on February 17, 2008 9:32 PM:

helloo i just got this new mp3 player my grand ,other acually got it i was wondeing where i can get free and east and fast songs 2 download fron thanx and god bless

Tina said, on February 18, 2008 6:44 AM:

I have successfully downloaded songs from Limewire onto my MP4 Player but even though I have over half capacity of free space when I try to add more songs it won't let me Please help Dave

allysa casteel said, on February 18, 2008 2:43 PM:

I just got a m4002a mp3 player for christmas and i cant figureout how to download music onto it.

Tiara said, on February 23, 2008 10:24 AM:

How do I put music on my sansaclip mp3player?

destiny said, on February 23, 2008 12:59 PM:

what do i do first?

cory said, on February 24, 2008 7:22 AM:

hey,
how do you get your parents to buy you one at your birthday?

April said, on February 26, 2008 8:15 AM:

my husband bought me an mp3 player for my birthday and the back of the box says that it will work with windows vista, but I went to a support site to see how to down load music to the mp3 player and I typed in all the information it asked for and the result was that it is not compatible with windows vista what should I do?

georgia said, on February 27, 2008 10:37 PM:

that so didnt work!!! im confused,

be spacific :

wade said, on March 1, 2008 6:52 AM:

Hi,
I can't put any music onto my mp3 on Windows Media Player plese help

emma said, on March 6, 2008 2:48 PM:

i dont know how to put music on to my mp3 can anyone help me!!!

r.mintonye said, on March 6, 2008 11:17 PM:

why do mp3 players have to be so difficult to transfer cds from computor to mp3 player. what happen to the good old days when it was cassette to cassette.companies need to make it easier. i am about to throw mine in the pacific ocean, a mile away from my home. think i might go back to cassetts,

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

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How do I download songs to my MP3 player?

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