Putting music on an iPhone is pretty easy. If you have ever owned an iPod, you should be a pro at this by now. However, if this is your first foray into the portable mp3 player world, let's take a look at how to get music onto an iPhone.

You need music; the question is where to get it. The first place to look is on your own shelf. If you have a vast selection of CDs or even just a few, you probably want to be able to listen to them without having to lug around your CD collection everywhere. To get the music from the CDs into your iPhone, you will need a computer with software that rips the music onto the computer's hard drive. This software will convert the music into an .mp3 file so the iPhone can read it.

This software can be found anywhere on the Internet. If you use a search engine you can find a free software download this way. You can also use iTunes to get music into your iTunes library. When ripping your music, make sure to use at least a 192 bit rate. It will make your music sound better while listening to it. But stay consistent with the bit rate. If you constantly change the bit rate for different songs, you will hear a different sound quality. It can get pretty annoying.

The Internet is also a good resource for downloading music. Most of the time these songs are already in an .mp3 format so there is no need to rip the song. Once you download the song, it is yours and you can listen to it as often or as many times as you like.

You have to be careful when downloading music. The p2p and torrent sites may seem like a good idea when you find them because the music is free, but they are not. First, the sites are illegal and you can get in trouble. The fines would be astronomical, a lot more than you would have paid for the music. Secondly, this is a great way to catch a virus or any other type of bug that will mess with your computer. P2p sites are not monitored for malware, so your computer can get easily infected.

Look for sites that offer a one-time administration fee. These range from $20 to $50. These types of sites are great because for the one-time fee you have access to thousands of files. You will end getting more than your money worth with these sites.