discodiscdoll
CD Burning & Mixtape Guides
How to burn a CD on a Mac or Windows PC, what fits on a disc, CD cover sizes, and how to make a mixtape worth giving. Written by people who burn CDs every day.
We burn custom CDs from customers' playlists every day, so these guides come from the burn desk, not from a spec sheet. Start with how to burn a CD on a Mac or a Windows PC, then the question we hear most: why a Spotify playlist won't burn, and what to do instead.
If you're planning the disc itself, the guides on how many songs fit, CD-R versus CD-RW, and CD cover sizes cover the numbers. For the part that matters most, picking and ordering the songs, read how to make a mixtape.
- How to burn a CDHow to burn an audio CD that plays in any car or stereo: what you need, the steps on Mac and Windows, how long it takes, and what to do without a disc drive.
- How to burn a CD on a MacBurn an audio CD on a Mac with the Music app, step by step: the drive you need, the Burn Playlist to Disc settings, and why some songs refuse to burn.
- How to burn a CD on Windows 11 and 10Burn an audio CD on Windows 11 or 10 with Windows Media Player Legacy: where to find it, the exact Burn tab steps, and fixes for the usual errors.
- How to burn a Spotify playlist to a CDSpotify downloads can't be burned to a CD. Here's why, the legitimate ways to get your Spotify playlist onto a disc, and the easiest one with no burner.
- Can you burn Apple Music, YouTube or Amazon Music to a CD?Which streaming songs can be burned to a CD and which can't: Apple Music, iTunes purchases, YouTube Music and Amazon Music, explained plainly.
- Where can I get a CD burned?No burner? Here's where to get a CD burned: libraries, borrowing a drive, buying an external burner, or mailing your playlist to a CD burning service.
- CD-R vs CD-RW vs MP3 CDCD-R, CD-RW, audio CD or MP3 CD? What each one is, which play in car stereos, and which blank discs to buy for a mixtape that lasts.
- How many songs fit on a CD?A standard CD-R holds 80 minutes of audio, about 18 to 22 songs. See how many songs fit by length, audio CD vs MP3 CD, and how to trim a playlist that runs long.
- CD cover size and jewel case dimensionsExact CD cover sizes in inches, mm and pixels: jewel case front insert, back tray card, spines, paper sleeves and disc labels, plus bleed and print settings.
- How to make a mixtapeHow to make a mixtape CD someone will keep: choosing songs, sequencing, fitting 80 minutes, naming it and the cover, from a shop that burns them daily.
- What is a mixtape?What a mixtape is, where the word came from, how a mixtape differs from an album, and why people still make mix CDs for each other.
- Mixtape names and playlist title ideas150 mixtape and mix CD name ideas sorted by occasion: love, friendship, road trips, birthdays, breakups and memorials, plus how to write your own.
- Are CDs coming back?CD sales, who's buying them and why: the numbers behind the CD comeback, Gen Z and physical media, and why burned mix CDs are back as gifts.