YouTube has created a digital entertainment empire. It contains billions of videos, many of which feature audio, such as albums, movie soundtracks, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. If you have a YouTube Premium account, save these audio files for offline listening and import them into iTunes, GarageBand, or iMovie for editing. However, the membership service costs $13.99 each month. Is there a better or less expensive method? This post will go over how to download audio from YouTube on Mac.
How To Download Audio From YouTube On Mac With Apps?
1. YT-DLP
YT-DLP is a sophisticated download manager incorporating all of YouTube-DL’s technology and capabilities. It can download videos, music, and playlists from YouTube, Bilibili, and many other websites. If you are unfamiliar with coding technology, it is best to avoid this strategy since it involves a significant time commitment to learning.
- On your Mac, install Homebrew.
- To install YT-DLP, enter brew install yt-dlp in the terminal.
- To choose a location for your output audio, type cd [Folder Name].
yt-dlp -F [YouTube ID] is the command to use. It will download all audio and video tracks from the YouTube URL. - The YouTube ID is the character after “v=” in the YouTube URL, for example, DAOZJPquY_w in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAOZJPquY_w. As a result, the complete command will be yt-dlp -F DAOZJPquY_w.
- Locate the desired audio track. After that, run the command yt-dlp [YouTube ID] -f[Audio Track ID].
- For example, if I want 129k M4A, I’ll type yt-dlp DAOZJPquY_w f140. To extract audio from YouTube on Mac, use the “Enter” key. M4A format will be used to save the audio file.
2. VLC
VLC is a free multimedia tool known for its great playing capabilities. In reality, it can let you download YouTube videos and convert them to MP3, OGG, FLAC, and other formats. However, YouTube has continued to kill VLC downloads in various ways since 2019. VLC is constantly changing the coding in youtube.luac.
- Click “Open Network” in the VLC media player.
- Copy the YouTube video URL and paste it into the new window. Click the “Open” button.
- VLC will automatically play the YouTube video. Right-click “Window” > “Media Information”.
- Copy the whole URL from the “Location” field.
Note: Version 3.0.14 of Disturbed by YouTube will not be able to view the full URL. But that’s OK.
- Open a web browser page using the copied destination URL.
- Right-click on the YouTube video and choose Properties. Select a file location after clicking “Save Video As.”
- Click “Convert/Stream” to import your downloaded YouTube video into the interface.
- To extract audio from a YouTube file on a Mac, choose an output format such as “Audio – MP3,” name the file “xxx.mp3,” and start the process.
VLC isn’t a very good YouTube audio downloader for Mac. Its processes are very time-consuming, and it can only download a few YouTube songs simultaneously.
How To Download Audio From YouTube On Mac Online Without Apps?
1. YTmp3.cc
YTmp3.cc is an online service for downloading YouTube videos in MP3 or MP4 format. Although it only supports a few formats, it is easy to use in a browser and does a fantastic job of downloading audio from YouTube for free.
- Launch your browser and go to YTmp3.cc.
- Copy and paste the URL of the copied YouTube video into the blank box. It will quickly identify the link and display the download details.
- Click the “Download MP3” button to get the audio from YouTube.
2. Y2mate.is
Y2Mate is a popular online tool for free audio and video extraction from YouTube. MP3 and MP4 are the two output formats. You do not need to install any other apps or plugins. However, the audio quality is up to 192 kbps (the original is 320kbps), and the video resolution is up to 1080p (including a 4k video). The URL detection performance will be quite sluggish if your input YouTube video is huge or lengthy.
- Visit the website https://y2mate.is/.
- Copy the URL of the YouTube video from the address bar.
- On Y2Mate, paste the URL into the provided box and click “Start.”
- When the output options display, select “Audio” and one of the desired quality settings.
- Click “Convert” to transform the button into a “Download” button. Then, hit it one more to download YouTube audio on Mac.
Change YouTube URL
It is, in fact, the same as the online tool. The idea is to use a URL to go right to Mac’s online YouTube audio downloader. There are several tactics you may use to obtain YouTube videos, such as altering “youtube” to “ssyoutube” or “youpak”, putting “pwn” before “youtube”, and so on. However, not all of them can download audio from YouTube on Mac. Try the following steps to extract an audio file.
- Launch the YouTube video on your web browser.
- Click the video link. It will look something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ0yjYUFKAE.
- Replace “YouTube” with “pp”: https://www.youtubepp.com/watch?v=tQ0yjYUFKAE. Press the “Enter” key.
- You will be sent to y2mate.com, where you will see a download option for your YouTube video.
- Pick the audio file you want to download from “Audio” in your browser.
How To Record YouTube Audio On Mac?
If you want to extract audio from YouTube on Mac, the built-in audio recorder – QuickTime Player – can help. It does, however, capture numerous ambient noises via the computer microphone.
- Open a YouTube video that has the audio you need.
- Start QuickTime and choose “File” > “New Audio Recording.”
- Choose a microphone, quality level, and volume control when the menu appears.
- To start recording and playing the YouTube video, click the red “Record” button.
- When you’re done, click the “Stop” button.
- To convert YouTube audio to M4A, go to “File” > “Save.”
FAQs:
Is It Possible To Rip Audio From YouTube On Mac With Google Chrome Extensions?
You can’t do it! Even though the Chrome Web Store has a plethora of YouTube downloaders, none of them allow you to download YouTube audio. To prevent violating YouTube’s Terms and Conditions, practically all add-ons have removed the YouTube download feature since 2014.
Is It Possible To Download YouTube Audio From Specific Time?
No. You may copy the video URL now, which will cause YouTube to play the video when you click the URL. However, the functionality allows you to position the YouTube video without manually sliding the progress bar. You’ll still receive the complete file using this URL to download YouTube Sound on your Mac. One solution is to download the entire YouTube audio and cut it to a certain period.
Can Audacity Download Audio From YouTube?
No. Audacity can edit and improve audio, record audio, eliminate noise, convert audio files to another format, make audio mixes, and so on as a free audio editing software, but it cannot download audio. You may use Audacity’s recording tool, which works similarly to QuickTime’s, to extract audio from YouTube on Mac.
Is It Legal To Download YouTube Audio On Mac?
It is determined by the sort of video you download. Distributing, selling, or manufacturing copies of copyrighted content is against the law. However, you may download audio files from YouTube.
- By subscribing to YouTube Premium.
- From Public Domain & Creative Commons.
- Protected by a Copyleft license.
We recommend not using copyrighted YouTube music or audio tracks for business reasons since it is a murky area.
The Bottom Line:
The methods to download audio from YouTube on Mac have been discussed. To download audio without installing software, use the online tools Y2Mate and YTmp3.cc.
