Using MusicBridge to Sync Windows Media Player with iTunes

In my previous post about migrating from iTunes to Windows Media Player, I mentioned a small applet called MusicBridge to sync the metadata between the two program's libraries.  I wasn't extremely clear on how to use the applet, and I've received a couple of mails and comments asking about exactly how to use MusicBridge.

MusicBridge doesn't actually add songs to your Windows Media Player library--it only syncs the metadata about those songs (song names, ratings, playlists, etc.)  Before you use MusicBridge, you need to actually add the song files from iTunes to your Windows Media Player library.  The following instructions for doing this are for Windows Media Player 11, but may also work with WMP 10 as well:

1.)  Open Windows Media Player.

2.)  Navigate to File-->Add to Library, or just hit "F3".

3.)  You get an "Add to Library" dialog box with a list of folders that Windows Media Player is monitoring for new media files.  If you don't see the list of folders, click on "Advanced Options".  Then click on "Add".

4.)  Navigate to the root folder holding your iTunes music.  By default, this will be at "My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music".  (Remember that the absolute path of your My Documents folder is usually c:\documents and settings\<Your Login Name>\My Documents".)

5.)  Click "OK".  Windows Media Player will scan that folder, and all of its subfolders, and add those music files to your library.  Any AAC files, or any files you bought in the iTunes Music Store will be skipped.

6.)  When the import is finished, exit from Windows Media Player and start MusicBridge.

7.)  From the "Sync from iTunes" column, choose "All Data".

8.)  Watch and wait as your metadata is synced.

Voila!  You should have all of the MP3 and WMA files in your music library imported, with iTunes ratings, into Windows Media Player.  MusicBridge isn't perfect--it messed up a few of my tags and doesn't transfer Smart Playlists, but it works.

Good luck!