Why Can’t I Play the Disc I Burned in my CD Player

If you burn a data disc with music files and it does not play in your portable, home, or car CD player, check the following:

Your CD player may not support playback of data CD or DVD discs. Refer to the CD player’s documentation for details.

The CD might be burned onto media, such as CD-RW, that is not compatible with the CD player. Refer to the CD player’s documentation for details.

Your CD player may not support playback of the type of music files burned on the disc (WMA or MP3). Refer to the CD player’s documentation for details.

The songs might be protected with media usage rights. Other computers may be able to acquire usage rights and play the songs if they have a connection to the Internet, but devices such as portable CD players and car stereos will not be able to acquire those rights, so protected content will be unplayable.

The CD might not have been closed when it was burned. Usually you can resolve this problem by adding more songs to the burn list so you are close to the maximum capacity of the CD. Then, try burning the list again to a new CD.