How to take audio from a YouTube video
Ever found yourself wanting to listen to something on YouTube without having to keep the video playing? Or maybe you’ve been looking for simple steps on how to take audio from a YouTube video and convert it into catchy background music you can use for your projects.
This is literally me whenever I’m doing chores, taking a walk, or playing around with Audacity. And as you must’ve guessed, curiosity took hold of me for a couple of hours, and I’m happy to tell you that I just emerged from the cave of learning with some juicy tips.
Today, I’ll show you how to easily convert YouTube videos into any format so you can enjoy your favorite songs, podcasts, and background music without keeping the video playing.
We’ll go a little further and explore the best ways to get YouTube audio so you can use them any way you like, even if you’ve never done anything like this before.
So, get ready to unlock the brilliance of YouTube videos and take advantage of the hidden gems they offer.
Let’s dive in.
Downloading audio for casual listeners
Downloading music using YouTube Premium
Courtesy: YouTube.com
Using YouTube Premium remains the most convenient way to enjoy just the audio file of a YouTube video. Yes, YouTube premium offers ad-free access to YouTube content. Still, one thing I—a lover of JRE and Valutainment—love about YouTube Premium is that it allows users to listen to videos in the background or download and watch videos offline.
What’s more, YouTube Premium offers a selection of audio-only downloads. This means you can click download and save just the audio file of a video without hitting the download button and getting the entire video file.
And when you add how a YouTube Premium subscription comes with access to YouTube Music, it’s easy to see why it’s an excellent choice for casual music or podcast fans.
Downloading music using NewPipe
Courtesy: NewPipe.net
NewPipe is the perfect solution for anyone looking to enjoy YouTube to the fullest without getting a YouTube Music Premium account.
And just in case you don’t know, NewPipe is an open-source media streaming application for your Android device that’d allow you to access and watch videos on YouTube and other streaming services.
NewPipe has a sleek interface that makes finding any video or audio file smooth. With NewPipe, you can search for your favorite royalty-free music tracks, select the audio file’s quality, extract audio from videos, and watch it offline. Pretty cool.
Also, NewPipe constantly gets many feature updates and bug fixes, making it one of the safest and most reliable media players available.
Downloading audio for committed listeners
Use free online websites
Lots of folks use an online converter like convert.io to download YouTube audio.
And that’s because, besides the fact that converting from YouTube to MP3 audio with websites only needs a YouTube URL, not everyone needs a lossless audio format or wants to go through the hassle of downloading music videos.
That said, here’s a simple list of free websites that’d make extracting audio from YouTube a breeze.
OnlineVideoConverter.com
Courtesy: Onlinevideoconverter.com
OnlineVideoConverter is a completely free site that makes converting videos from various websites, like YouTube, into different audio formats super easy.
And besides downloading, the site offers a variety of features, like the ability to trim and crop videos, add subtitles and watermarks, and adjust the video resolution.
Also, it’ll let you download your YouTube audio files directly to your computers and phones or save them to your cloud storage.
ToMP3.cc
Courtesy: ToMP3.cc
ToMP3 was specifically created for YouTube audio conversions, YouTube conversions, and YouTube video downloads.
Although ToMP3 is fast, allows for free unlimited downloads, and doesn’t require an account, one thing that makes ToMP3 genuinely unique is that it gives you other great suggestions for similar YouTube videos related to the links you input.
YTMP3.cafe
Courtesy: YTMP3.com
Like ToMP3, YTMP3 specializes in converting YouTube Videos but can only download YouTube audio files in MP3 format.
Don’t have the video’s URL? No worries because YTMP3 allows you to search for any video of your choice with its keywords or lyrics—if you’re downloading an uncopyrighted music video.
The best thing about using online converters is that you don’t need to download YouTube videos locally to use them.
Extract audio from YouTube using desktop software
Using desktop software is perfect for anyone looking to extract audio from YouTube into unsupported audio formats like FLAC, APE, and DSF.
Various software can help you extract audio from YouTube videos, from Audacity to Freemake Audio Converter and VLC. Each software offers unique features, so it’s essential to research which is perfect for your needs.
Here’s a simple list to help you find the best desktop software.
MiniTool uTube Downloader
Courtesy: YouTubedownload.minitool.com
MiniTool YouTube Downloader is one of the best free desktop software for downloading and converting YouTube videos. It supports video formats like MP4, AVI, WebM, and other audio formats like MP3 and WAV.
Courtesy: softpedia.com
MiniTool has a built-in player so you can instantly paste the YouTube video URL of your favorite music and preview it. Another cool thing, besides taking audio from YouTube videos, is that MiniTool makes batch downloading easy so that you can download multiple YouTube audio files simultaneously.
SnapDownloader
Courtesy: Snapdownloader.com
SnapDownloader has many unique features that make its audio extraction process one of the best. With Snapdownloader, you won’t just be able to extract audio from YouTube but from over 900 other websites.
Courtesy: Snapdownloader.com
But it doesn’t end there because SnapDownloader lets you extract audio from your favorite playlists or channels, perform batch downloads, and support scheduled downloads. However, unlike MiniTool, SnapDownloader isn’t free. It’ll cost you $19.99 to get lifetime access to this video converter.
YTD Downloader
Courtesy: ytddownloader.com
YTD Downloader is a reliable tool for anyone looking to get the most out of YouTube. This powerful desktop software supports popular video formats and allows you to extract audio, convert videos, and even download multiple videos simultaneously.
Courtesy: ytddownloader.com
With YTD’s intuitive interface and built-in proxy and remote control support, you can watch blocked videos from anywhere in the world.
So far, using desktop software is an absolute breeze, especially when customizing the conversion settings. You can choose the bitrate, encoder, and sample rate to ensure you get the best sound quality out of your YouTube audio file.
Other notable software
- Flixier
- 4k download MP3
- Converto.io
- Vidmate
- Audacity
Is it legal to download audio from YouTube
Courtesy: Pixabay
Yes. But it depends on two things.
First, if you’ve got a YouTube premium account, you can legally download any audio file you want.
Second, you must ensure the audio you’re downloading is in the public domain and isn’t copyrighted. Unless it’s your own personal YouTube videos, you could get into serious legal trouble extracting audio files from YouTube without the owner’s consent.
If you want to stay clear, it’s best to check with the copyright holder. After all, they are the ones who dictate who can and can’t use their content.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you need a quick way to save audio from YouTube, your best bet is to use a file format that’s both flexible and reliable.
MP3 is a great choice since it’s a universally accepted format with excellent sound quality. Plus, it doesn’t take up a lot of space and can be played on nearly any device.
No, you don’t need to worry about your audio quality being affected when taking it from YouTube. There may be minor audio degradation due to compression, but the quality will remain the same.
The MP3 format is designed to preserve audio quality, so you can rest assured that your audio will sound as good as the video you got it from.
The best way to maintain the video’s audio quality is to use a loss-less file format like WAV or AIFF. These formats are uncompressed, meaning no audio quality is lost during encoding.
If you want to reduce your extracted audio’s file size, you can always use a lossy format like MP3 or AAC. But make sure you use a higher bitrate. Doing this will help you maintain a good balance between file size and excellent audio quality.
One thing you don’t want is to get a cease and desist letter for using copyrighted material.
So, before taking audio from a YouTube video, check the video’s description for copyright information to ensure you’re granted free rights.
And if you realize you don’t have the appropriate permission, you should contact the video’s owner and ask for permission to use the audio. It’s also a good idea to get written approval of their consent, just in case.
Absolutely! Several tools like YTMP3 and Converto.io can help you download audio from YouTube videos with just a few clicks. These tools are perfect for anyone who doesn’t have the time or technical skill to extract audio from a video manually.
No, the length of a YouTube video doesn’t affect the audio quality when taking audio from it. Even if you take audio from a YouTube video that’s hours long, the audio quality will remain the same.
Of course, checking the audio quality before using it to ensure it’s up to your standards is always a good idea. But once you have the audio, you can rest assured that you won’t be sacrificing any quality, no matter how long the video is.
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