The goal of this article is to help you change a YouTube video into an MP3. The assumption is that you’ve already obtained permission to save the audio from the YouTube video. In other words, the conversion process is only authorized for content that is accessible by anyone and has not been restricted in any way.
You can do all of the following tasks using your modern browser:
Copy the share URL (not the embedded HTML or player) of the YouTube video.
Paste it into the current converter, which converts the file to MP3 when possible.
Select “MP3” when given the opportunity.
Start the conversion and wait for processing.
Once done, download the completed-file.
We’re going to walk through each step.
What is Allowed?
When you save something on YouTube, the question becomes: what rights does YouTube have over it? For instance, if I upload my own videos, they are mine. If someone else uploads their own video, it is theirs. You may save your own material without restriction, but you can’t save others’ videos unless YouTube allows you to do so. And even then, there are restrictions on who can access them.
There’s also the question of what YouTube allows users to do with its content. There are some videos explicitly permitted to be downloaded, shared, etc. But most content is protected. Some content, like music, is owned by a rights-holder; that doesn’t mean you cannot listen to it, just that you can’t take the audio away. However, we are talking about converting a YouTube video into an MP3. This implies that you want to save a copy of a YouTube video for later playback. It should go without saying that you aren’t saving it solely because you enjoy listening to it, but rather to retain a copy of the audio for some reason.
In addition, YouTube has rules about how people can use the platform. These include:
Your own uploads — created by you
Content that you have created, such as videos you have uploaded
Rights-holder permission — whether the relevant rights holder has granted you permission to use the audio
YouTube expressly authorizes the download of a particular piece of content
Freely shareable content
If none of these apply, then the content isn’t freely available to download. Personal listening isn’t permission.
MP3 Quality
There’s another issue: How will the MP3 quality look? When you upload an MP3 to YouTube, it may be at a high resolution. What happens when you convert the video to an MP3? Let’s say that you upload a video that is encoded at 192kbps, for up to 150 minutes. That means that the audio will be converted to 192kbps. However, if you specify a higher bitrate, the file size will increase. But it’s important to remember that nothing can be restored: whatever detail was lost when you uploaded the source file to YouTube can’t be recreated.
So, you might end up with something lower than you expected.
Practical Limits
There are practical limits to this process. If the link fails, then the problem could be either that you are not allowed to do this or the content itself is inaccessible. The same goes for other issues:
Private videos
Removed videos
Age-restricted videos
Region-blocked videos
Live streams
Some videos simply can’t be accessed by anyone
If the current converter does not support those types of videos, you won’t be able to convert them
These constraints don’t imply anything more than that your eligibility for the task is limited, or that the video’s source settings prevent it from being downloaded.
During download, you can compare what’s happening to the page versus what you expect. Because services change over time, you should always examine what buttons exist and what controls you see during the conversion process. Sometimes, you’ll see deceptive buttons. Other times, the site will try to trick you into installing something. A notification prompt can be misleading, too. If the domain name looks similar, but it’s not, then you can consider that site unsafe. Finally, claims that sites are safe or ad-free are not proof that they actually are. They can change, as well. Sometimes, the offer to not require you to create an account changes, too. Ads and limits can change, too.
Consolidating Our Decisions
Before making a decision, check off the boxes:
Is the audio on YouTube authorized?
Can you access the video?
Will the video be converted to MP3?
Are there limitations imposed upon the source quality?
Do you have access to the MP3 conversion tools?
If you aren’t sure of your eligibility, stop! If the prompts or controls don’t match what you expect, stop! If you think the website is suspicious, stop! Don’t fall prey to bad actors.