How to download music from YouTube

Downloading music from YouTube is a fairly common practice, and the demand to simplify the process has inspired the creation of countless websites and software.

But not all services can be considered safe. In fact, some of these services may infect your computer with malware or produce low-quality audio files. When downloading music from YouTube, you should first make sure that the websites or apps you use for this purpose will not harm your device. For this guide, our team found two methods to make the process safer and easier.

We should first issue this warning: ripping audio from YouTube is a violation of the streaming video site’s terms of service, which could land you in trouble. There are ways to enjoy YouTube music without violating its terms of service, such as through Google’s YouTube Music service. So we recommend that you consider trying legitimate options first.

If you choose to download software to extract audio, make sure your antivirus service of choice scans the software for threats before installing or using it.

Via YouTube Music Premium

Before we get into your third-party options for downloading music from YouTube, know that YouTube already allows users to download music if they have a YouTube Music Premium subscription. Downloading music from YouTube through the platform’s YouTube Music Premium subscription is basically the safest option, both from a legal point of view and in terms of the safety and security of your computer. It is also the most expensive option. But it’s the option we recommend to most people for the reasons discussed above.

As far as we know, this method only works on Android or iOS mobile devices: Open the YouTube Music app, then navigate to the song you want to download. Then select the Three points menu icon > Download (which should have a down arrow icon).

On computer: YouTube 4K to MP3

Downloading and installing a new app doesn’t have to be a difficult task. In fact, the 4K YouTube to MP3 app offers simple installation and user-friendliness that rivals most online YouTube conversion services. It is also available for multiple operating systems, including Windows, MacOS (10.13 and later), and Ubuntu. And YouTube 4K to MP3 can also be downloaded and used for free. You can also upgrade to a premium version which includes features like unlimited audio tracks per playlist and no ads. But the free version should be enough for most people.

Step 1: Go to the 4K YouTube to MP3 website and under the tab YouTube 4K to MP3 header, select blue Download button that corresponds to your computer’s operating system.

2nd step: Once the installer is downloaded, run it and follow the on-screen prompts to install it. YouTube 4K to MP3.

Step 3: Navigate to the YouTube video with the audio you want to extract and copy its URL

Step 4: Paste the link into the app via the blue “Paste link” button.

Step 5: The application will start extracting the audio. This should take about a minute or two of ripping time for every 10 minutes of video.

Step 6: Once the MP3 file is created, the application automatically saves it to your PC. To locate the music file, you can simply hover over the track name displayed in the middle of the application and select the Show in folder icon.

YouTube Conversion Sites and Malware

In the past, we have recommended a few websites that you can use to download audio from YouTube videos. These websites tend to start off secure and then become overrun with malware over time. Therefore, at the time of writing, we currently do not have any safe recommendations to offer you. We recently tested a number of these sites and they tended to either not load at all or be flagged as unsafe by our antivirus software. The other problem is that these sites also tend to offer annoying pop-ups.

For these reasons, we don’t think it’s worth using these online YouTube converter sites given the risks and the fact that you already have two safer options: YouTube Music Premium and the 4K desktop app YouTube to MP3.

We also suggest you read our handy guide on how to download YouTube videos if you want to watch them offline without connecting to the Internet.

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