Custom music guide

[PJSim]

I thought it might be nice with a guide to changing the music in the game. I have seen many questions about it but few good answers.

I recently discovered the joys of the portable stereo, I bring it everywhere, even the gym and the library! I thought my sims might get thrown out of the library but they didn't so now they can rock out with that positive moodlet even when studying in the "peaceful" library atmosphere.  
So I quickly realized it would be nice if my sims favorite music was also mine, otherwise you can really get tired of listening to simpop all day.

Also I haven't tried to have a rock star yet but when I do he will totally be listening to AC/DC!
"Wanna be a Rock 'N' Roll Singer", "It's a long way to the top if ya wanna Rock 'N' Roll" and "Let There Be Rock"!

Anyway, that turned out to be very easy: put whatever you like in the Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Custom Music folder (mp3 files) and it will play on the "custom music" channel. Then make the sim's favorite be custom music and you can be "enjoying music" together.

But how about changing the music in Build and Buy mode? If you spend a long time building a house that elevator music can get on your nerves...
Is it even possible to change the default music in Sims 3 like it was in the other two? I haven't been able to find the answer elsewhere and I can't find anything which looks remotely promising in the Sims 3 folder in either Documents or Program Files. There's a music tab in Options but it doesn't seem to do anything except to let you play previews or am I blind?

And can you change the music on the other radio stations? For instance if you're an inappropriate sim it might be amusing to play some really inappropriate music on the kids channel...  

[Pam]

Thanks PJSim!  I'll be trying that custom music tip.  And...  where do I get the portable stereo for my Sims?  I haven't seen that yet.

[PJSim]

Sort by function/Electronics/Audio
It's the cheapest one!

You can drag it into your sims inventory as long as it's turned off. Drag it out of inventory when you're fishing or in the library or whatever, turn it on...

[Carl]

It's really helpful for fishing too because once all the other moodlets have worn off you can keep the Sim happy while they're at the fishin' hole.

Thanks, I realize because of this that I only mention custom music in my faq and don't give explicit instructions. That'll be corrected

[Pam]

Are we talking about the smallest inexpensive stereo?  It's portable?

[Carl]

Yepper, drag and drop. Can't be on when you drag..

[PJSim]

Are we talking about the smallest inexpensive stereo?  It's portable?

Yeah, so cool isn't it. It's so cheap so once I have a little cash I just buy lots of them and leave one at all my sims favorite places: gym, library, fishing spots. Then you don't have to remember to bring it along and you have music everywhere.

I suppose some lowlife kleptomaniac other than myself might steal them but it hasn't happened yet.

[PJSim]

Thanks, I realize because of this that I only mention custom music in my faq and don't give explicit instructions. That'll be corrected

You should because I think a lot of people who hasn't played the earlier Sims might not even realise it's possible. Also it's a little confusing because there are two Custom Music folders, one in Documents and one in Program Files and the custom music which ships with the game appears in both.

I deleted the music which came with the game from the Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Custom Music folder and added my own music, then played the game. After a while it played something I didn't recognize so I excited the game and looked in the folder and one of the songs I had deleted had reappeared!

So I think you need to delete it from both folders to make it stay gone, the other one is:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\CustomMusic

[Kreathyr]

I just put all of my Nirvana albums on my laptop, now I only play custom music 

[Seabody]

I'm sorry for dragging up a really old thread, but is it possible to put music from an actual CD into the game?
I understand PJSim's instructions, but what I mean is: Can you actually take music from a physical CD and move it into the folder? Is the file type recognised? If so, where in the CD is the music stored? What file directory?

[Pam]

I'm sorry for dragging up a really old thread, but is it possible to put music from an actual CD into the game?
I understand PJSim's instructions, but what I mean is: Can you actually take music from a physical CD and move it into the folder? Is the file type recognised? If so, where in the CD is the music stored? What file directory?

No, it has to be in .mp3 format to be used in the game.  CDs won't work.

[Seabody]

So where would you get .mp3 files? Do you download them?

[Pam]

So where would you get .mp3 files? Do you download them?

Yes.  The ones I use in my game are downloaded from Amazon.com.  Be very careful that you do NOT use a file sharing service.  They are illegal and potentially very damaging to your computer.  Always down music legally (by paying for it) and safely from sites like Amazon.

[MoMoll]

I have put custom music from CDs in my game. You need to save the CD music on RealPlayer or something like that on your computer in mp3 format. Then you copy and paste it into the Sims3.

I would love to be able to put custom music into the theater when my Rock Star sim is performing so it sounds like they are truly performing.

[TheChronicR]

You can easily rip music from a compact disk with the help of programs like Windows Media Player. That is needed because songs you play on a compact disk are not in .mp3 format, so they have to be converted.