Your Android tablet can give you access to your computer’s music. The computer is the equivalent of the 20th century stereo system — a combination tuner-amplifier-turntable — plus, all your records and CDs. If you’ve already copied your music collection to your computer, or if you use your computer as your main music-storage system, you just need to share that music with your Android tablet.
On Windows, the most common music-playing (or jukebox) program is Windows Media Player. You can use this program to synchronize music between your PC and the Android tablet. Before you get dirty, however, a warning:
The Play Music app does not recognize music copied to the tablet from Windows Media Player. Yes, it’s disappointing, but the restriction is probably to motivate you to purchase music from the Google Play Store. Who would have thought?
The good news: If your tablet comes with another music playing app, you can copy music from your computer and enjoy it on the tablet. Here’s how it works:
Connect the Android tablet to your PC.
Use the USB cable that comes with the tablet.
Over on the PC, the AutoPlay dialog box appears in Windows, prompting you to choose how best to add the Android tablet to the Windows storage system.
Ensure that the tablet is connected as a media player or uses something called MTP.
On the PC, choose Windows Media Player from the AutoPlay dialog box.
If the AutoPlay dialog box doesn’t appear, start the Windows Media Player program.
On the PC, ensure that the Sync list appears.
The Android tablet appears in the Sync list on the right side of the Windows Media Player. If not, click the Next Device link or button until it shows up.
Drag to the Sync area the music you want to transfer to your tablet.
You see a list of songs that appear in the Sync list. To add more, drag an album or individual song into the Sync list. Dragging an album sets up all its songs for transfer.
Click the Start Sync button to transfer the music from the PC to your tablet.
The Start Sync button may be located atop the list or it might be found on the bottom.
Close the Windows Media Player when the transfer is complete.
Or keep it open — whatever.
Unplug the tablet from the USB cable.
You can unplug the USB cable from the computer as well.
The next time you start the Play Music app, you’ll find your music right there in the library. Now you can enjoy your computer’s music anywhere you take the Android tablet.
You cannot use iTunes to synchronize music with Android devices.
The Android tablet can store only so much music! Don’t be overzealous when copying your tunes. In Windows Media Player, a capacity-thermometer thing shows you how much storage space is used and how much is available on your tablet. Pay heed to the indicator!