Q: I want to burn a playlist that is on my iPod touch onto a blank CD. Please tell me that I can. The playlist is NOT in my current iTunes library.
– Elizabeth
A: Unfortunately, you cannot burn a playlist directly from music stored on a device; you will have to transfer that music back into iTunes first and then burn it from there.
There are a number of ways to transfer content from an iPod touch back to your iTunes library, most of which require the use of a third-party utility. Tools such as SharePod, TouchCopy or Music Rescue can help you with this; for more information see our guide on Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer.
Note that some tools will try to recover everything from your iPod for a full recovery, including iTunes’ own “Transfer Purchases” feature used to copy purchased items back from your iPod touch. Since you’re only looking to burn the music from a specific playlist, you’ll want to ensure that you recover only the specific playlist you want. Once you’ve done this, you can import it into iTunes or any other CD burning application and burn it to a CD from there.