Getting all my music files in one location. How?

Factual Questions
1

I picked up one of these wireless muti-media keyboards. I have all the features customized except the media part of it.

Here’s the thing, I have files in WinMP, RealPlayer, iTunes and one other app that won’t be mentioned. This is a pain in the ass not having everything available at the touch of a button.

So what I need to know is how do I get all the files from all the different apps to one app that can be then opened with the single key?

Thanks

2

Well, when I decided to consolidate I did it the old-fashioned way: choose whichever program you want to be your future interface and import everything into that program.

This solution has limitations; namely iTunes will probably be the limiting factor as it’s AAC format won’t play nice with WMP. I took the easy way out and imported everything into iTunes. This does have its drawbacks: exporting music to anything other than an iPod becomes insanely difficult (meaning I must burn a CD, rip it into mp3 format with something else and then put it on my mp3 player).

Not the ideal solution, but it worked for me. I would like to hear if anyone has a more elegant way to do this.

3

Burn files to disk. Seriously. Then even if your computer is stomped on by an elephant, all your data files are saved. Otherwise, you are one hard drive failure away from disaster. BACK UP YOUR DATA!