Windows Media Player may no longer be Microsoft's flagship media application, but it remains a favorite among many Windows users. Its lightweight design, simple interface, and reliable local music management make it a practical choice for organizing and enjoying offline audio collections.
However, if your music library comes from Apple Music or iTunes, things can get confusing. Some songs play perfectly in Windows Media Player (WMP), while others refuse to open at all. The reason lies in the type of music file you're dealing with.
In this guide, we'll explain whether Windows Media Player can play Apple Music and iTunes songs, show you how to transfer compatible purchases for free, and demonstrate how to make Apple Music tracks work with WMP while maintaining excellent audio quality.
Part 1. Can Windows Media Player Play Apple Music or iTunes Songs?
The short answer is: it depends on where the music comes from.
Not all Apple-related music files are created equal. Some are standard audio files that Windows Media Player can recognize immediately, while others are protected by Apple's subscription-based licensing system.
Here's a quick overview:
| Music Source | Playable in Windows Media Player? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Music downloaded songs | ❌ | Subscription-protected files (.m4p) |
| Purchased iTunes songs | ✅ | Can be imported directly (DRM-free AAC) |
| Older iTunes purchases (Pre-2009) | ❌ | DRM protection prevents playback |
| MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC files imported into Apple Music | ✅ | Fully supported by WMP |
So why can't Windows Media Player simply open Apple Music downloads? Or, why can't you transfer Apple Music to Windows Media Player directly?
When you download music from an active Apple Music subscription, the songs aren't stored as ordinary audio files. Instead, they're encrypted files that can only be verified and played through Apple's authorized apps. Windows Media Player lacks the ability to authenticate your Apple Music subscription, so it cannot access those tracks.
Purchased iTunes songs are a different story. Since Apple removed DRM protection from most purchased music years ago, many iTunes purchases are now stored as standard AAC files that work in Windows Media Player without any extra steps.
See also: How to Remove DRM from Apple Music
Therefore, before attempting to transfer music, it's important to determine exactly what type of file you have.
Part 2. How to Transfer Unprotected iTunes Purchases to Windows Media Player (Free)
If your music was purchased rather than streamed through Apple Music, you may not need any additional software. You can transfer and import them directly into your Windows Media Player library entirely for free.
See also: How to Buy Apple Music from iTunes Store
How to Transfer Songs from iTunes to Windows Media Player
Step 1. Locate Your Purchased Songs
Open 'Apple Music' or 'iTunes' on your Windows computer and find the songs you purchased. Right-click a song and select 'Properties' (or 'Song Info', depending on your version). Navigate to the 'File' information section and look for the file type.
Step 2. Check Whether the Song Is Protected
Then look for the 'Kind' field. If you see MPEG audio file, the song is DRM-free and can be played in Windows Media Player. But if it is Protected AAC audio file, it is not compatible for WMP.
If you see the word "Protected", DRM is preventing the file from playing on other apps. For a highly efficient way to download your Apple Music with original audio quality for Windows Media Player, skip ahead to Part 3 for a lossless, cost-effective method.
Step 3. Import Your Purchased Songs into Windows Media Player
Now that you've confirmed your purchased songs are DRM-free, you can add them to Windows Media Player. The steps vary slightly depending on which version you're using.
Option 1. Classic Windows Media Player
1. Search for Windows Media Player from the Windows taskbar and launch it.
2. Click 'Organize > Manage Libraries > Music', select 'Add', and then browse to the folder containing your purchased iTunes songs. Click 'OK' to import the folder into your library.
3. Once Windows Media Player finishes indexing the files, your songs will appear in the Music library, where you can browse them by album, artist, genre, and more.
Option 2. New Media Player (Windows 11)
1. Launch the Media Player app from the Start menu.
2. Select 'Music' from the left sidebar, and click 'Add Folder'.
3. Choose the folder containing your purchased iTunes songs, then click 'Add' this folder to Music.
4. Media Player will automatically scan and index your music. After a few moments, your songs will appear in your library with their original metadata intact.
How to Import iTunes Playlist to Windows Media Player
While it's easy to import iTunes library to Windows Media Player, importing iTunes playlists to WMP directly can be more complicated.
On the legacy version of Windows Media Player, you can only go to the Playlist section, click Create Playlist, and drag and drop the imported songs into the newly created playlist.
The latest version of Media Player makes it easier to handle playlists. Here's how to import iTunes playlist to Windows Media Player:
Step 1. Ensure that each Apple Music playlist is downloaded and saved in a separate folder during the conversion process.
Step 2. Open Media Player and click Play Queue on the left-hand panel.
Step 3. Click Add Files and choose Add Folder to Play Queue.
Step 4. Select the folder containing your converted playlist and click Add to > New Playlist to create a playlist in Media Player.
Step 5. Once you've created one playlist, click Clear under the Play Queue title to reset the queue, and then repeat the process for the next playlist folder.
This way, you can effortlessly organize your Apple Music playlists in the new version of Media Player.
If your purchased songs import successfully, you're all set. However, if the tracks appear in Apple Music but can't be added to Windows Media Player, they're most likely Apple Music subscription downloads protected by DRM rather than DRM-free iTunes purchases. In that case, continue to Part 3 to remove the restrictions and convert them into Windows Media Player-compatible formats while preserving the original audio quality.
Part 3. How to Convert Apple Music to Windows Media Player-Compatible Formats (Lossless & Keep Forever)
If you are trying to play songs downloaded from your Apple Music streaming subscription, the free method above will not work. Because these tracks are cached stream files tied to an active subscription, they are strictly locked to Apple's authorized apps.
As a result, Apple Music downloads come with several limitations:
- Require an active Apple Music subscription
- Can only be played through authorized Apple software
- Cannot be imported into Windows Media Player
- Become inaccessible if the subscription expires
If you want to listen to Apple Music in Windows Media Player - or simply keep your music collection permanently - you need a specialized tool to unlock and decode the streams. This is where the AudFree Apple Music Downloader comes in.
AudFree Apple Music Downloader is designed to bypass the format limitations of Apple Music streams by losslessly recording and transcoding the audio data into widely supported local formats like MP3, FLAC, WAV, and more.
The software also preserves important metadata, including artist information, album names, cover artwork, track numbers, and playlists, helping keep your music library organized after transfer.
AudFree Apple Music Converter
- Convert Apple Music to MP3, WAV, FLAC, and other WMP supported formats
- Preserve the original Apple Music audio quality and ID3 tags
- Batch convert entire playlists and albums at up to 17× faster speed
- Keep converted songs permanently, even after your Apple Music subscription expires
Follow these simple steps to download Apple Music to your Windows computer for Apple Music Windows Media Player integration:
Step 1. Install AudFree Apple Music Downloader
Download and install AudFree Apple Music Converter on your Windows PC. After launching the program, sign in with your Apple Music account if prompted. Your Apple Music library will then be available for conversion.
Step 2. Add Apple Music Tracks or Playlists to AudFree Program
Browse your Apple Music library, then select the songs, albums, or playlists you'd like to convert. Once selected, click '+' button to import them into the conversion queue.
Step 3. Choose a Windows Media Player-Compatible Format
Click the 'Menu' icon in the top-right corner, select 'Preferences', and choose an output format supported by Windows Media Player, such as MP3, WAV, or FLAC. You can also customize the bit rate, sample rate, codec, and audio channels if you want to optimize the output for your listening preferences.
If you're unsure which format to choose, MP3 offers the best compatibility, while FLAC and WAV are ideal for preserving maximum audio quality.
See also:
• How to Convert Apple Music to FLAC
• How to Convert Apple Music to WAV
Step 4. Convert and Import Songs into Windows Media Player
Click Convert to start processing your selected music. AudFree will save the converted files to your chosen output folder while preserving their original metadata.
After the conversion is complete, simply open Windows Media Player (or the new Media Player) and add the output folder to your music library using the steps described in Part 2. Your Apple Music tracks can now be played just like any other local audio files - without subscription restrictions.
If you're ready to break boundaries and bring music from other platforms into Windows Media Player, the AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder is the perfect tool. It seamlessly captures audio from over 10 streaming services, allowing you to build a compact, perfectly organized local library across various platforms with zero hassle.
Part 4. Apple Music vs iTunes vs WMP: Which Is Better for Windows Users?
Now that you've learned how to import your music into Windows Media Player, you may be wondering whether it's actually worth switching from Apple's own apps.
The answer depends on how you listen to music. Apple Music, iTunes, and Windows Media Player are designed for different purposes, and each excels in different scenarios.
| Feature | Apple Music | iTunes | Windows Media Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Music streaming | ✅ | Limited | ❌ |
| Purchased iTunes music | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Local music playback | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Local library management | Ordinary (Disorganized for local non-Apple files) | Good | Excellent (Excellent scanning and local directory monitoring) |
| CD ripping & burning | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Device syncing | Apple devices only | Excellent | Limited |
| Supports converted Apple Music | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| File permanence | Subscriptions tracks lock automatically if payment lapses | Limited purchases are permanently accessible | Saved permanently on your local PC storage forever (with AudFree) |
| Resource usage | Moderate | Relatively heavy | Lightweight |
| Best for | Streaming | Media management and sync | Local playback |
Apple Music
Apple Music is built primarily for streaming. It offers a massive music catalog, curated playlists, Lossless Audio, Spatial Audio, and seamless syncing across Apple devices. However, downloaded tracks remain tied to an active subscription and can only be played through Apple's authorized apps.
iTunes
Although Apple has shifted its focus toward the newer Apple Music app, iTunes is still a solid choice for managing purchased music, CDs, and large local libraries. Its media management features remain more comprehensive than those of Apple Music, but the software can feel dated and resource-intensive on Windows.
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player isn't designed for streaming services, but it continues to be one of the best local music players for Windows users. It starts quickly, consumes fewer system resources, integrates naturally with Windows, and makes it easy to organize, search, and play locally stored music. It also supports CD ripping and burning, making it a practical choice for users with offline collections.
Which One Should You Choose?
If you mainly stream music and stay within Apple's ecosystem, Apple Music is the obvious choice.
If you own a large collection of purchased songs or regularly manage CDs and local media, iTunes still provides powerful library management tools.
However, if your goal is to enjoy Apple Music tracks as permanent local files on a Windows PC, Windows Media Player offers a faster and more lightweight playback experience once the songs have been converted into compatible formats. By using AudFree Apple Music Converter to create DRM-free local copies, you can continue enjoying your music in Windows Media Player without being limited by subscription or platform restrictions.
Part 5. FAQs About Apple Music and Windows Media Player
Why does WMP say 'Format not supported' when I drag Apple Music files into it?
This occurs because the files you are moving are encrypted .m4p files protected by Apple's FairPlay DRM. Windows Media Player lacks the encryption keys necessary to unlock and read these streams. To fix this, you must run the files through AudFree Apple Music Converter to convert them into standard .mp3 or .m4a files first.
See also: How to Convert Apple Music M4P to MP3
Can I just rename the extension of Apple Music files from .m4p to .mp3 to make it playable in WMP?
No. Manually changing a file extension only alters the label that the operating system reads; it does not change the internal, encrypted encoding of the file itself. Windows Media Player will still read the file headers, detect the block, and throw an error.
What happens to my converted songs in Windows Media Player if my Apple Music subscription expires?
Because AudFree records and outputs standard, DRM-free copies of the audio files onto your hard drive, they behave exactly like music ripped from a traditional CD. They are completely yours to keep. Even if you cancel your Apple Music subscription, the tracks in your Windows Media Player library will remain fully playable forever.
Can I use Windows Media Player to sync these converted songs to an Android phone or MP3 player?
Absolutely. This is one of WMP's strongest selling points. Once your songs are converted to a standard format like MP3, plug your Android device or MP3 player into your PC via USB. Open WMP, click the Sync tab on the top-right corner, drag your converted Apple Music files into the Sync list, and click Start Sync to transfer them seamlessly.
Conclusion
While Apple music formatting boundaries can make it difficult to enjoy your music your own way, you do not have to be locked into clunky, proprietary Windows applications. By identifying your unprotected iTunes digital purchases, you can easily sync them up for free natively. And for your vast streaming playlists, utilizing AudFree Apple Music Converter ensures that you can unlock your audio, claim true digital ownership, and listen to a pristine, lossless music library directly inside Windows Media Player.
Ready to upgrade your playback experience? Download the free trial of AudFree Apple Music Converter today and take complete control over your music catalog right now!
Staff Editor
