How to Burn Your Own CDs - a guide for Windows users
Are you--yes, you!--tired of paying money to stupid shit like spotify for your music? Do you hate the way that the music industry takes almost all the profit that bands make through streaming and leaves them with pennies? Have you ever wanted to fire up that old CD-Radio in the corner of your bedroom, only to be stopped because all you have on CD is Weezer's blue album and a copy of Kidz Bop 16 that you don't remember buying? Well this guide just might be for you!
A computer. Can't do it without this one.
A CD drive. It can be internal or external, but you'll need one either way. You can find them at Office Depot for fairly cheap and I've heard that some Walmarts carry them.
A pack of CD-Rs. CD-Rs, or CD Recordables, come in packs of 20, 50, or 100. A proper 100-pack should cost you no more than $30, so unless there's some special shortage in your area, don't buy from anywhere selling them at a markup. CD blanks are literally 50c a piece.
CD cases. Sold wherever CD-Rs are, but you can also find these at thrift stores pretty easily.
A sharpie or some kind of permanent marker
Jdownloader. You can acquire mp3s through Bandcamp if you're dedicated to righteousness, but for everyone else, install jdownloader or some other kind of open-source download program. I will be proceeding as if you have jdownloader available.
Windows media player. This should open automatically when you insert a CD-R into your CD drive.
Fre:ac audio converter. This is only for the occasion that you encounter OPUS or mp4a files that cannot be interpreted by your CD player.
Note: If you're very determined not to download software onto your computer, you can use free youtube downloaders and audio converters, but these are subject to viruses and other issues such as download speed. I will be proceeding as if you have the programs I listed.
Decide what you want to burn--anything goes, but keep in mind the time limit on your CD-Rs. Most will record 90 minutes or less.
Open jdownloader, switch to the linkgrabber tab, then paste youtube links in any order until you have all the music you want. I'd personally recommend doing it song-by-song instead of a full album stream, because a massive file will require a lot of work to separate back into searchable tracks.
De-select all files except audio on the right-hand side options menu.
Make a folder inside the music folder of your laptop and label it with the name of your mix CD.
In the properties tab of each song on jdownloader, change the destination folder to the folder you've just created.
Hit "start all downloads".
Once finished, open each folder. If everything is an .mp3 or a .wav, skip the next 2 steps.
Open Fre:ac audio converter to convert all audio files that aren't .mp3 or .wav into .mp3 or .wav.
Drop the converted files next to the unconverted files in your folder. If you wish, you can delete the originals to make the folder easier to browse.
Put your blank CD-R into the CD drive. If external, plug in your CD drive first or the tray will refuse to open.
Windows media player will open automatically. On the right-hand side, you will see the tracklist of your CD-R (which should be blank). On the left, you will see the audio that your computer is able to find in the music folder. Put your selected tracks IN ORDER onto the tracklist.
Listen to the beginning and ending of each track to make sure there isn't a significant time gap. This also prevents accidentally burning a youtuber's stupid outro if you missed it before.
When satisfied, hit "start burn".
On an external drive, the CD tray will open upon completion. You can reinsert it to ensure that the burning went smoothly.
Once satisfied, remove the CD from your drive. With your sharpie or permanent marker, write the name of the album on the front, then store safely inside a CD case.
Ask me if you run into any issues.
Legal disclaimer: this guide is purely for educational purposes and I do not admit to or take responsibility for any piracy committed using the instructions given.
Illegal disclaimer: cops suck my dick
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