Do you know what is M4A file extension? A file with an extension M4A is an audio file format that makes use of standard MPEG4 audio layer compression codec. MPEG4 encoding was a video file format that was compression standard for MP4 video files. It was developed by Apple Corporation and the videos can be played in any multimedia player such as QuickTime Player. M4A is relatively a new technology so many people have several reservations and questions about this file format. M4A is MPEG4 audio, and it is very popular file extension used for audio files now a days. This is a new compression standard for audio. Most of the people are familiar with MP3 as compression standard for audio and how it shrinks the audio file size. M4A do the same thing that is compression but with even more better quality. Also, you do not need to have any license to stream in or distribute content in M4A file format. It saves cost for you. M4A is less lossy as compared to old MP3 format and provides same bit rate. Before you want to know that how to play M4A files, you must know what plays M4A files? There are number of media players available that can play M4A files such as Apple's QuickTime Player, iTunes, Microsoft Windows Media Player, etc. For the players that can only play MP3 files, you need to convert M4A files to MP3 files by using an M4A to MP3 converter. ITunes songs come into the category of M4A file format. Choose an M4A to MP3 converter which takes less amount of time to convert these files. Also, take into account the fact that it only converts the required file format and no other files. Now comes the question, how to play M4A files? It is easy. There are many media players that supports M4A file format. You can play these files using VLC Media Player that is an open source software. Following are few steps that describes how to play M4A files using VLC Media Player: § Go to website of VLC and download appropriate VLC Media Player's setup file according to your operating system. § Double-click on VLC Media Player setup file. It will self-extract the content and install VLC Media Player. § Drag and drop the M4A files into your VLC Media Player. § Play it using the Play button on toolbar. Earlier versions of Windows Media Player do not support M4A file format. But, the newer versions like Windows Media Player 11 and onwards support M4A audio files. You can play these files using Windows Media Player 11. Following are few steps that describes how to play M4A files using Windows Media Player 11: § Go to Microsoft website and download latest version of Windows Media Player. § Double-click on the setup file. The installation process will begin. § Follow the on-screen prompts and instructions and complete Window's Media Player installation. § Double-click on the M4A file you want to play. After reading this article, how to play M4A files is no more a problem for you!