How to send a modern mixtape

September 19, 2017 7:51 PM

My bff is in residential rehab and requested that I send her music in a care package. She has no access to a smartphone or any other technology. How do I send her a digital mixtape or personal music device loaded with tunes for under $50? I have plenty of music on my personal iTunes-- purchased and uploaded from CDs.
posted by Jason and Laszlo to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

What is she allowed to have? For example, could you send an IPod Nano loaded up? Or a Discman with several discs that you burn? You might have to ebay these, but I think this is the right direction if she's allowed offline electronics.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:55 PM on September 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

An old school mp3 player should be well under $50. You can get an 8 GB one on Amazon for 20 to 30 bucks. Just load it up with things you think she'd like from your own collection and you're all set. You could even record a personal message of encouragement and load it on there if you wish.
posted by katyggls at 8:02 PM on September 19, 2017 [4 favorites]

You should contact the rehab facility to get the guidelines for care packages. The more spa-like facilities let patients have just about anything but some are much stricter about any item that has metal parts for a variety of reasons.
posted by xyzzy at 8:24 PM on September 19, 2017 [8 favorites]

You could also send her a portable CD player that plays mp3 CDs for like $20. Then you could burn and send a new CD of stuff every week (or whatever frequency) for her.

I use mp3 CDs in my car and can squeeze 7-12 albums on each one depending on the bitrate/number of songs.
posted by noloveforned at 9:34 PM on September 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

An old school mp3 player should be well under $50. You can get an 8 GB one on Amazon for 20 to 30 bucks. Just load it up with things you think she'd like from your own collection and you're all set.

One additional recommendation here, the Sansa Clip Jam (29.99 from Amazon) has a micro SD card slot so if you wanted to send more files later you could slightly more cheaply than getting a new mp3 player.
posted by *becca* at 6:37 AM on September 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Whatever method you choose, your iTunes purchases should now be DRM free, unless you're pulling them off of Apple Music, their streaming service.
posted by SansPoint at 7:05 AM on September 20, 2017

If you go on Ebay you can find generic MP3 players for under $5. Look for one with a built-in speaker in case headphones get uncomfortable for your friend. Most of them have no internal memory so you buy a micro-sd card for $15 and load it up.

If she is a reader, see if she'd be interested in an ebook reader. The e-ink devices are lightweight and can hold hundreds of books.
posted by irisclara at 11:36 AM on September 20, 2017

Just seconding the advice to call the facility -- they all have their own rules.

I have sent a mixtape on a used ipod nano that I got fairly cheaply from Craigslist.

IME, the concern is not only metal pieces (although that makes sense), but access to the internet.
posted by merejane at 12:54 PM on September 20, 2017