iPad: The Missing Manual

Chapter 13. Play Music and Other Audio

When the iPad was announced in January 2010, many technology critics quickly dismissed it as “a giant iPod Touch” before going back to complaining about other things they hadn’t actually experienced. Although that particular response was snarky, it was also correct. Among many other things, the iPad is a giant iPod Touch. And what a handsome flat-screen jukebox it is.

Thanks to its larger size, the iPad makes playing music, audiobooks, and podcasts a more visually exciting experience. It’s much easier to see cover art more clearly, find the tracks you want to hear, create your own playlists, and control your music on the bigger screen.

Granted, the iPad is a bit bulky to haul to the gym or schlep along for the morning jog, but it’s a great music machine for other situations—like when you have a stack of email to get through and you want to bliss out to a little Yo-Yo Ma.

No matter whether you want your music in the background or front-and-center on the screen, this chapter shows you how to get your iPad singing.

Get Music and Audio for Your iPad

Have absolutely no music or audio files on your computer? Here are a few ways to get some tracks on your iPad. (If you’ve had an iPod for years and have the music-collection thing down cold, feel free to skip ahead to the next page to see how the iPad organizes your music once you get it on there.)

Import a ...