How to Burn Music From the Internet to a CD

The Legal Stuff

Obviously, when we’re talking about downloading music files from the internet and transferring that music to CD, we run into a few legal issues. First, is it legal to download music from the internet in the first place? There are no easy answers to that question. Some websites offer you free music that is 100% legal. Using P2P networks to download music that is copyright controlled is “sort of” illegal. It’s actually more of a gray area. If you benefit financially from that music, then yes, it is illegal. If you are just listening to it for your personal pleasure, well, record labels are trying to make that illegal, but the issue is still making its way through the court. The Limewire lawsuit, that should come to trial in Summer 2007, should go a long way to making a more definitive legal ruling on downloading music.

Is it legal to burn music from the internet to a CD? Again, that depends. It depends on where you got the music in the first place and if the download was legal to begin with. If you burn music to a CD and then sell that CD, that is bootlegging, and it is 100%, go straight to jail, do not pass go illegal. If you burn CDs for your own pleasure, then you are in the same gray areas as downloading the music in the first place.

How to Burn Music from the Internet to a CD

To burn music from the internet onto a CD, you will need:

• CD-Rs (writable CDs – make sure you get one designed for music and not data only CDs)
• CD re-writer drive on your computer (also called a “CD burner,” these come standard on most new computers. If you have an older computer, you can get an external CD burner)
• CD re-writing software

The CD re-writing software is the part that can change a little bit from computer to computer. Most operating systems – Windows, Mac, Linux – have their CD burning software that is pre-installed in the computer. Usually, this software is completely adequate. Some computer manufacturers, like Dell, also pre-install their own media software that includes a CD burning software component. You can also download this type of software from the internet. There are no hard and fast rules about which software is the best. If you already have software on your computer through your operating system, sticking with that may be best. Just go for the system you find easiest to use. For instance, many people find Windows Media Center CD burning software easier to use than the burning system in Dele’s Music Match Jukebox.

Once you have all of the parts you need, follow these steps:

• Insert your blank CD into the CD burner
• Open the file that contains your internet music and open your CD writing software program
• Transfer the songs you want from your music file to the CD writing software folder
• Direct the software to burn the CD, at which point it will compress your music files and write them onto your blank CD
• Wait for your CD burner drive to pop open, indicating the disc is complete. The disc will now be “sealed” and cannot be re-edited or written over.

The time it takes to complete these steps depends on which program you are using, how many songs you are burning, and what other programs you are running at the time. If you have an older computer, you may want to let the burner run alone and hold off on operating other systems during that time. Otherwise, you may find flaws in the final product.

It is also possible to play around with the compression of the files to either improve quality or free up more space on the disc. Your CD burning software will alert you if you are trying to put too many songs onto one disc.