If you love music, then chances are you have quite a collection. Having a few gigs worth of music on your phone, tablet and computer are not unusual.
However, if you’ve ever tried to use the local storage of your phone or MP3 player, then you’ll have quickly discovered that it just isn’t enough for a day out with friends.
This is where an external memory device comes in handy. There are several ways to get extra storage, but flash drives and SD cards are the most convenient methods (if you’re lucky enough to own a slot for one).
How to organize music on USB for a car – If your CDs aren’t cutting it anymore, and you have bought a fancy new MP3 player, the only problem is that you can’t find the time to download all of your music on it, then read on.
Best Way to organize music on USB for Car
It’s a time-consuming process because sometimes you are to convert thousands of audio files one by one, easily killing your mood in the process. If you regularly drive long distances or love listening to music while traveling long distances, you know that this is not a huge task, unless you have tens of thousands of songs on your USB drive.
Whether you have a long commute every day or just like to have music with you at all times, being able to organize your music on a USB stick in such a way that it’s easy to navigate and listen to is a real convenience. Here’s how you organize music on a USB drive for your car stereo.
1. Create a new folder on your computer and name it “From USB”
Now, this is where we will be moving all the music from the USB onto your computer’s hard drive for you to access.
This process can take a little time, so make sure you find a spot on your computer that won’t be interrupted by other things such as phone calls, other people in the room, or anything else that might disrupt your normal workflow.
Interruption could cause you to lose your train of thought and cost you time moving your content along. If you have music on your USB and want to play it in a car, plug your USB into the computer.
Then go to “My Computer,” and use Windows Explorer or any other file manager of your choice to create a new folder on your computer. Name the folder “From USB.” You will use this to store all your copied music files from the USB Drive.
2. Create a to-do list in the From USB folder
If you own a car, truck, or SUV with a USB port, here’s how to make the most of that port by creating a USB drive full of music. The best way to do this is to create a playlist on iTunes or Windows Media Player.
You can then use that list to create a folder on your computer’s hard drive. Name it “To USB” and put it on the desktop for easy access.
Create a to-do list in the To USB folder. It will include all the music you want to put on your USB drive. Once you’ve created your list, drag and drop the songs into the new folder on your desktop, you also want to group pieces into different folders (By Artist, By Genre, etc.).
3. Move all the music from the USB drive into your From USB folder
Connect your USB drive to your computer. Make sure you can open it and see its contents. Open iExplorer and click the arrow next to “iPhone” in the left-hand column under Devices.
Click on “USB Drive” under the heading of “Mounted Disks”. A folder should appear labeled “USB” below it. Copy all of the music files from your USB drive into an empty folder on your computer.
Copy all of the music files from the folder on your computer into a new folder labeled “USB” in iTunes. Highlight all of the songs in this folder and right-click one of them; then select “Create AAC Version“.
This will convert all of the files into AAC format, which is necessary for them to play on an iPod. They will be stored in a folder called “AAC Versions“. Move all the music from the USB drive into your From USB folder. You can delete it from here once you’ve imported it into iTunes if you want to save space.
4. Name all the files with the song title
It’s not enough to copy your files over to the USB drive. They’ll get all out of order and take a long time to load. So it would help if you organized them. The first thing you want to do is name all the files with the song title since they’ll appear in alphabetical order after that.
If you have an artist field on your MP3s, you should also put that in the file name to make searching easier — e.g., “They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul” instead of just “Birdhouse in Your Soul”.
Then, you want to create folders for each artist or band. You can further break things down by albums if you like, but I find that most people don’t listen to music by album anymore, so it just adds more navigation steps without much benefit.
If you have a lot of music on your drive, you might want to use two-letter subfolders for each artist so that everything doesn’t show up under a single letter (e.g., “T/They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul” instead of “They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul”).
5. Decide how you want your music to be organized on your USB drive
Decide how you want your music to be organized on your USB drive. You can manage it by artist, title, genre, bitrate, or file size.
However, many car audio systems are not compatible with music organized into folders on the USB drive. If you’re using a program like iTunes to manage your music on your computer, it’s usually best to have it organize your music by artist.
This will make transferring the music to the USB drive more straightforward.
Most car audio systems are compatible with this method of organization because they can recognize the different artists’ names and properly group the songs accordingly. Connect the USB flash drive to an open USB port on your computer.
Open iTunes. iTunes should automatically recognize a new device connected to your computer and prompt you to sync it with iTunes. Click Sync Now in this prompt window. Then click “Apply” in the iTunes window to sync the data from your music library onto the USB flash drive.
Disconnect your USB flash drive from your computer when you’re finished syncing the files onto it.
6. Import the files into iTunes. If you don’t have iTunes, this step is optional
1. Open iTunes on your computer and navigate to the folder containing your music files.
2. Click File > Add Folder to Library in the top-left corner of the window or press Ctrl + O while in iTunes.
3. Select the folder containing your music files. You can select multiple folders by holding down Ctrl while clicking each one.
4. Click Open in the bottom-right corner of the window to import them into iTunes
5. Create a playlist for the music you wish to upload to your USB drive. If you’re uploading all of your music, drag all of your songs from the main “Library” pane into a new playlist by first selecting them all (Ctrl + A), clicking and dragging them over to the Playlist pane on the left side of the screen, then releasing them there
6. Connect your USB drive to your computer and wait for it to be recognized by Windows or Mac OS X
7. Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and locate your USB drive in the sidebar on the left side of whichever app is open
8. Drag your music playlist from iTunes over to your USB drive’s icon in File Explorer/Finder
7. Remove all songs that start with an asterisk (This indicates that they are not compatible with the car stereo)
Step 1: Remove all songs that start with an asterisk (This indicates that they are not compatible with the car stereo).
Step 2: If you have a lot of songs, it might be good to create playlists. This limits the number of pieces on the screen at once and makes it easier to find what you want.
Step 3: If you do not use playlists, rearrange your music by Genre, Artist, or Album.
8. Delete any duplicates
Being a car audio/video professional for over 15 years, I would say that if you are transferring music from your computer to the USB drive:
Any duplicates that you find can be deleted.
If you have the same song on your USB flash drive and your computer, make sure that you leave the one on the USB flash drive alone and delete the duplicate from your computer.
Delete any songs that you do not want to include.
In windows explorer (or Mac). Drag and drop all the songs onto the USB drive. If you have duplicate songs, it will ask if you want to replace the file or keep both copies.
Choose the “Keep both” option. This will rename one of them with an extra number at the end.
Now find this song on your computer and delete it because you have a copy on your USB drive.
9. Delete any blank tracks that may have appeared after importing your songs into iTunes
Delete any blank tracks that may have appeared after importing your songs into iTunes.
These are not actual songs and cannot be played on an MP3 player or another device, so you will need to delete them before copying anything over to your player
Enjoy your Music Playlist!
FAQ
How do I make a USB playable?
To format the USB drive to play music:
1. Plugin the device into your computer using an available USB port.
2. Go to “My Computer.” Then right, click your USB and select format.
3. Your screen will show how much memory you have, etc.
4. Click “File System.”
5. Click “NTFS (default)”
6. Select “Quick Format.”
7. Name it whatever you want and click start
8. Could you wait for it to finish.
9? Read the disclaimer and click ok.
10. Copy your song files into a folder called MP3, then drag that folder into the main view of “my computer.”
Which USB format works in car?
The best Format for a USB stick for use in a car is FAT32, which is also the most compatible. If the media player in your car does not read the file system of your memory stick, you can format it from Windows or macOS.
This is a straightforward procedure that can be completed in just a few steps:
1. Connect your memory stick to your computer.
2. Open the Start menu and type ‘format.’ Click on Format as shown above or press Enter.
3. Select your USB drive from the drop-down menu and choose File System FAT32 (Quick), as shown above.
4. To start formatting, click on Start.
Why can’t I play music through USB port in my car?
The answer is simple. Because you can’t play music on USB with your car stereo, the music should be in the format of MP3, WMA, or AAC, but not WAV/FLAC/APE/AIFF/DTS/AC3. Also, the file system of the USB hard drive should be FAT32 or exFAT. If not, it may not work.
Why is my car not playing music through USB?
If the USB port is not working, try using a different USB cable.
If you have one available, try using another USB flash drive.
If you are using another USB flash drive and your car stereo is still not playing music through USB, the issue may be with your car stereo.
If your car stereo is still not playing music through USB, try updating its firmware. You can do this by contacting the manufacturer of your car stereo.
If you cannot update the firmware on your car stereo, you may need to purchase a new car stereo that has been updated to play music from any flash drive or phone containing music files in any format.
How do I add a USB port to my car stereo?
A special adapter cable is the easiest way to add a USB port to your car stereo. These cables plug into the USB port on your computer, and one end of the cable plugs into the auxiliary input of your car stereo.
The other end of the cable has two RCA jacks that plug into the back of your car stereo.
What is the best way to listen to music in a car?
Music stored on your phone can be played in a car through the stereo system.
The best way to listen to music in a car is using a USB memory stick with the MP3 files stored on it.
Install a USB port in a car is inexpensive and straightforward, and the sound quality is superb.
Now you know how to organize music on USB for your car or vehicle. With the help of a computer, it’s easy to keep from forgetting your favorites and everything can be done in a short amount of time. Hopefully, this helps!