Tutorial: Easy Way to Stream Apple Music to Roku

Roku is a streaming media player that lets you access hundreds of streaming services such as Netflix, HBO Now, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, YouTube, Google Play, Pandora, etc. on a TV. With a Roku Media Player, you can stream paid content like Netflix or HBO, watch free channel resources, or even play your own collection of movies, music or photos via USB drive. 

But surprisingly, Apple Music service is not available on Roku which means you can't play Apple Music on Roku. So, you've probably got questions like why Apple Music doesn't work on Roku? Is there any way to play Apple Music via Roku? Fear not, this article will provide you with all answers!

Part 1. Why You Can't Play Apple Music on Roku?

Simply put, you can't play Apple Music on Roku because Apple Music content are in DRM-protected M4P format, which is not supported by Roku Media player.

The following file formats are compatible with Roku Media Player:

File	Format
Video	H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV)
Audio	AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV);   WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3   (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,   .M4A), Vorbis (.OGG,.MKV,.WEBM)
Photo	JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)

Part 2: How to Convert Apple Music to Roku Supported Format

It’s clearly that M4P is not included in Roku supported media formats. If you want to stream Apple Music to Roku successfully, you need to remove DRM first and convert Apple Music track to a common audio format, like MP3, which is supported by Roku. After that, you can import the converted Apple Music songs to Roku using USB port for local playback.

Here I recommend that you use TuneFab Apple Music Converter to convert Apple Music songs and iTunes music to MP3. It is a tool that can convert protected M4P, AAC, AAX files to plain MP3 with original quality kept. Plus, it will save all of the original ID3 tags as well, such as title, album, artist, genre, album artwork, etc.

Now download the software and follow the below guide to convert Apple Music to MP3.

Step 1. Launch TuneFab Apple Music Converter

Download and install TuneFab Apple Music Converter on Windows/Mac. After that, launch this software on your computer. And iTunes/Music App on Mac will be opened automatically to load media files into this tool.

Add Apple Music songs to iTunes library, otherwise you won’t be able to see the songs appear on TuneFab’s main interface.

Step 2. Choose Apple Music songs

Go to the "Playlist" category, select Apple Music tracks via ticking the checkbox one by one. Or you can directly search the song's name you want to convert in the "Search" box.

Step 3. Set MP3 as Output Format

Go to "Output Format" and choose MP3 as the output format from the given option. You can also adjust audio settings like encoder, channel, bit rate, etc. Besides, the output path is also available to be changed as you need.

Step 4. Start Converting Apple Music to MP3

Click the "Convert" button in the top menu bar and the program will start to convert Apple Music to MP3, which is the supported media format for Roku player. When it is done, click the "View Output File" to find the converted Apple Music songs.

Now you're almost done! You can transfer the converted Apple Music songs into the USB drive and follow the steps below to listen to Apple Music using Roku Media Player.

Part 3: How to Stream Apple Music to Roku from Connected USB Drive

1. Transfer the converted Apple Music files to a USB drive.

2. Insert the USB drive into the USB port on your Roku device.

3. Launch Roku Media Player and when the player detects the USB drive, you will see a USB drive icon show up in the media device selection screen.

4. Choose USB drive from the main screen and play Apple Music files stored in the USB drive.

Note: Roku Media Player supports USB drives that are formatted with the FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, and HFS+ file systems.

Conclusion

Apple Music is a music streaming service that only provides DRM-protected music. You can only listen to Apple Music with authorized devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, iTunes, Android, etc. If you want to play Apple Music on Roku, PS4 or Xbox One, you’ll need to convert Apple Music to a more compatible format, such MP3. Now with TuneFab Apple Music Converter, you can listen to Apple Music on any device you like! Enjoy!