How to Download Music to your Cell Phone for Free
Many, if not most, cell phones these days offer built-in music players. In many cases, you can download music to your cell phone over the air through your carrier’s online store. This option, of course, is far from free. You already have tons of music on your computer, but how can you get it onto your cell phone?
Well, as you were probably expecting, the answer depends on what kind of cell phone you have. Chances are, however, that your cell phone allows music transfer in at least one of the ways we’ve outlined below.
Getting Started
First things first. Make sure that…
- Your cell phone is capable of music playback.
- Your music files are in a format that is compatible with your phone.
If you’ve satisfied both of these requirements, you’re ready to move on to one of the following options.
Syncing Cable
Your handset may have come with a syncing cable. One end of this cable will plug into your phone and the other end will plug into your computer’s USB port. In some cases, your phone’s syncing cable may actually be the cord you use to charge the device. Check to see if the electrical plug separates from the cord.
The process found below may differ depending on your device, and your particular device may require additional software to allow music downloads. Consult your owner’s manual (manuals for many popular phones can be found here) or manufacturer’s website to see if software is available for your phone.
- Connect your handset to your computer using your syncing cable.
- Your phone may indicate that it has been connected to a computer, and prompt you to allow it to switch into a mode that will enable it to exchange files with your computer. Allow your device to exchange files.
- Your computer may indicate that it is installing new hardware. Allow it to fully complete the installation before continuing.
- A new removable drive will be displayed on your computer (in My Computer on a PC and on your desktop if you have a Mac).
- Open the removable drive. If there are multiple folders listed, find the music folder.
- Drag and drop (or copy and paste) the desired music files to the selected folder on your cell phone’s removable drive.
- After the transfer has completed, ‘eject’ the removable drive. You should now be able to play the music files you downloaded using your phone’s music player.
Bluetooth
If you don’t have a syncing cable, check to see if your phone supports file transfer using a Bluetooth wireless connection. Once again, consult your owner’s manual to discover whether your device has this feature.
- First, you will need to pair your handset with your computer. This process will differ slightly depending on what kind of handset and computer you have. Set either your computer or handset to ‘discoverable’ mode, and perform a search for it from the device not set to ‘discoverable.’ Once discovered, initiate a connection between the two devices.
- After you have successfully paired the two devices, locate the music file(s) you wish to download to your cell phone.
- PC: Right-click the file, and choose Send To > Bluetooth. Select your device from the menu, and follow on-screen instructions. Mac: Open your Bluetooth menu. Choose “Send File….” Select the desired music file and follow on-screen instructions.
Other Options
If you tried the above options without success, don’t give up – keep looking, a solution is out there.
- If your phone uses a microSD card, you can try purchasing a microSD card reader for your computer and put songs directly onto the card before inserting the card into your phone. You can also try using friend’s phone to download the music to your microSD card.
- Run an internet search for your specific phone model. Try using different keywords for your device like “transfer music to,” “put songs on,” and “sync music with.” There may well be a step-by-step tutorial for your phone out there.
- Check with your phone’s manufacturer to see if there’s syncing software available for your device. Also be sure to consult your handset’s owner’s manual. You can find manuals for many popular devices here.
Shop Now for Phones from AT&T Wirelesss, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.
Related posts:
- How to Transfer Files and Music to an Android Phone Using USB
- Loophole Found in Hands-Free Cell Phone Law: California Girl Gives it the ‘Boot’
- How to Sync Music with the Motorola Droid and iTunes
- How to Download BlackBerry App World
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May 1, 2012
hi guys,
can you help me to download some music to my cellphone?The brand of my cellphone is motorola hope that someone can reply me as soon as possible.Thankz guys.:)
May 1, 2012
HI Yedda,
What model of Motorola do you have. If it is an Android phone you will just plug in your phone to your computer and then treat it like a mass storage device and drag and drop your files onto it.
-Scott at Wirefly
April 22, 2012
hi how can i download music to my sony ericsson ST18i cellphone, please help
April 23, 2012
Hi bechay1413,
You have two ways to download music to your phone. You can put an SD card in your computer and copy music to it and then place that card in your phone or you can plug the phone into your computer and copy the music files directly to the phone like it was a portable hard drive. You can also check out the link I have attached for some more detailed step by step instructions. http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/07/29/how-to-copy-music-to-your-android-phone-from-windows/
-Scott at Wirefly
April 22, 2012
I am buying a Nokia 6790 Smartphone and it comes with music player, I have to buy the cable and because I am new to this I need help. I have a Gateway laptop(Windows7)I understand without the cable I can not listen to music, I just don’t know where to start. Can someone please help me.
Thanks in advance
April 23, 2012
Hi Kim,
You will need the cable to plug the phone into your computer unless you are going to copy the music to an SD card then put the SD card in the phone. If you go the cable route here is a link to some detailed step by step instructions.
-Scott at Wirefly
April 8, 2012
I’m sitting here trying to get music off of my computer to my phone by way of a usb cord and cant seem to get anywhere someone please help me
April 9, 2012
Sabrina, what make/model phone do you have? What type of computer do you have? (PC or Mac?) With that information, I might be able to help you.
Bob at Wirefly
April 4, 2012
Okay, I cannot understand any word you were saying. I have a Net 10 phone and it says that I have a music player but I have no music. I don’t know what to do but I want music really bad, but I don’t have the manual thingy. Help me !!
April 5, 2012
DaNia, what is the make and model of the phone you have? If you give me the make/model, I will look online for a manual.
Bob at Wirefly
April 1, 2012
I am like a 11 and I can’t even understand what it is saying!!!! >:(
July 8, 2012
Just put a CD into a computer then if u hav a USB u just download it into a computer.
March 27, 2012
How do I download music on my Nokia X2-01 phone?
March 28, 2012
Katlego, do you have the manual, as well as the cable to connect your Nokia phone to a computer? If you don’t have the manual, you can download it by clicking here. Look at the manual to see how music is loaded to the X2-01 — it’s not hard. Then plug it into your computer and move your music onto the phone. The Nokia X2-01 doesn’t have a lot of storage for music, so you will probably need a microSD card to expand your storage. That will cost a few dollars but they are not expensive.
Good luck!
Bob at Wirefly
March 20, 2012
how do i download music to a phone that is on a network that has admin blocks for downloads
March 20, 2012
Texas, do you have a data plan for the phone? If you have a data plan, you should be able to download music. If someone else is paying for your data and that person has stipulated that the network not allow downloads, then you are out of luck. Perhaps you can take the phone to a location that has free WiFi and do your downloading there.
Good luck!
Bob at Wirefly
March 13, 2012
I was wondering how do I download music but I don’t have a computer.. What do I do?
March 14, 2012
Nicole, what make/model of phone do you have? How you download music (or other kinds of media, such as photos) depends on the phone you have.
Bob at Wirefly
March 6, 2012
Need help geting music to my phone.
March 6, 2012
Minnie, you will have to give me some help if I am to help you. What phone do you have? What computer do you have? Do you have the cable to connect the phone to your computer?
Let me know the answers to those questions and I will try to help you.
Bob at Wirefly
January 14, 2012
I want to include some music or songs to my phone..
January 16, 2012
Hazirah, please feel free to do so.
Bob at Wirefly
March 12, 2012
Ok thanks
January 31, 2012
Pues pon el cable de tu telefono con el pc despues tu telefono dira que esta conectando a pc tardara mucho despues vete a tus carpetas y busca una musica y pincha en el boton derecho pon enviar a music.
Approximate translation: Put the cable from your phone into your PC. Your phone then says it is connecting to PC — it may take a while. Then go to your desktop and look for a music folder and click the right button to send music to this folder.
February 1, 2012
lol me to i need songs on my fone
January 10, 2012
how could i download music from my computer to my samsung phone
January 11, 2012
Abby, which Samsung phone do you have?
Bob at Wirefly
December 24, 2011
i dont realy kno how 2 do that but i will just learn from u guys so thanx for everyhing that u contributed in my learning thnx
September 24, 2011
what can we do if we dont have a usb? and how much are they for cricket samsung touch from cricket?
September 27, 2011
Anna, you will have to consult the manual for your cell phone to find out how you can load mp3 or other files onto it. As for your question about Cricket, you will have to ask Cricket. Wirefly does not carry or represent Cricket.
Bob at Wirefly
December 24, 2011
well first of all get a usb its not possible
September 12, 2011
does it work on cricket!
September 13, 2011
Julivia, yes, it should work fine with Cricket.
Bob at Wirefly
March 19, 2012
it dnt work on pre paid phones
March 19, 2012
Travonte, you can definitely download music to pre-paid phones, which is what Julivia asked. There are probably some pre-paid phones that don’t support music, but many do. For example, all pre-paid Android and BlackBerry phones have music players. Many other phones do as well.
Bob at Wirefly
August 15, 2011
Does it work on tracfone?
August 16, 2011
Marissa, many TracFone phones have music players, although some don’t. In most cases, you can download music to a TracFone device.
Bob at Wirefly
July 7, 2011
does it work on a metro pcs phone?
July 8, 2011
Rachel, yes these tips should work for a MetroPCS phone.
Bob at Wirefly
June 11, 2011
how do i sync music from my playlist thats on my computer to my sanyo phone? i tried and i just dont know what to do.
June 14, 2011
Gloria, what Sanyo phone do you have? Please give a name or model number, and we’ll see if we can help.
Bob at Wirefly
June 2, 2011
confused
May 21, 2011
yeah i dnt know either! i heard that if u have like music in ur computer that u connect ur ucd thingy cable & then u get the music file that u want & u put copy & past.. then u drag it into ur phone or something like that but i dnt get it!!!!!
April 13, 2011
hi does anyone no i can get frre music for my cell phone..?
May 2, 2011
How can I get free music for my phone as well
May 30, 2011
yes the intructions are right up top duhh
April 11, 2011
i have ametro pcs phne and dont know how to download music cant get it to work
February 18, 2011
i really dnt no how 2 do this…nd i really need music!!!!
November 30, 2010
If I knew better I should have bought the Iphone most resent and not the captive, which cost more.
October 14, 2010
dnt understand
????
December 23, 2011
Frank, I don’t understand as well!
October 11, 2010
um i lost my cable that connects to computer and fone
August 18, 2010
hi ive tried that but not gone through i using an imac and i have a samsungGTS-5233A pls help
July 24, 2010
i need some tunes
June 25, 2010
how do i breath mario
June 23, 2010
hey devan what is your last name
May 21, 2010
Where can I find free apps for my LG Chocolate touch?
April 6, 2010
hi, i have a sagen my200c and i want to know how to put music on xx please help!!!
March 5, 2010
?
March 5, 2010
i need misic
March 5, 2010
what ever?