How to Download Music From YouTube to Any Platform
Most of us stream most of our music, but sometimes that’s not an option. This is where downloading songs or music videos for offline listening comes in handy. If YouTube is your music platform, there are many ways to download music when you have an unstable or no internet connection.
Downloading music from YouTube is legal as long as you pay YouTube Premium. All other methods of downloading songs from YouTube are free, but not always legal. Remember, you can download your own music or copyright-free songs from YouTube, but if you’re trying to copy popular music that you didn’t create, you’re likely violating the site’s terms of service.
Download music from YouTube with a YouTube Premium subscription.
The most reliable way to download music from YouTube is to pay for the service, but I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.
You can get YouTube Premium for $13.99 per month or subscribe to YouTube Music Premium only for $10.99 per month. These are two separate services: YouTube Premium comes with YouTube Music Premium, but not vice versa.
Both services allow you to download music from YouTube and also come with other features such as ad removal. YouTube Premium includes a lot of extra features focused on the video portion of the platform, so if you only want music, you can save some money by simply subscribing to YouTube Music Premium.
All other methods of downloading music from YouTube are unofficial and may violate the site’s terms of service, but YouTube probably won’t be able to stop you. (Just don’t download copyrighted materials). Also, be aware that using unofficial YouTube downloaders may compromise your security if the app is purchased by malicious developers. I’ve done my best to recommend safe programs, but I can’t predict what the future holds. Always do your research before downloading an unofficial app from the internet.
How to download music from YouTube on Android
If you have an Android phone, try using NewPipe to download music from YouTube. This app is not available on the Google Play Store because it essentially gives you all the features of YouTube Premium for free, including the ability to download music from YouTube. Here’s how to install it:
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Download the Newpipe APK .
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Open the downloaded file on your Android phone. You may see a warning and a permission request to install NewPipe. Submit this request and return to the installer.
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Once the installation is complete, open NewPipe and search for the music you want to download.
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Click “Download” and then “Audio” and NewPipe will save the song for you.
How to download music from YouTube to iPhone
On your iPhone, the best (unofficial) way to download music from YouTube is through the Apple Shortcuts app. Follow these steps to download music from YouTube to your iPhone:
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Download the YouTube download shortcut from RoutineHub, a third-party shortcut gallery for your iPhone.
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Install two more apps on your iPhone: Scriptable and a-Shell mini .
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Open a YouTube video in Safari or the YouTube app. Click the Share button, which will open the share sheet.
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Scroll down and select “YouTube Download” from the list of shortcuts at the bottom.
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YouTube Download will ask for a number of permissions. Unfortunately, you’ll have to provide all of this for the shortcut to do its job. When asked if you want to download audio or video, select Download Audio . You can also select your preferred audio format. (I chose mp3.)
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Finally, the shortcut will ask where you want to save the downloaded file. You can select iCloud Drive or the On My iPhone folder in the Files app.
The downloaded audio file will be saved on your iPhone. You can repeat this process for almost any video on YouTube.
Download YouTube Music on Windows or Mac
Use 4K YouTube to MP3 app on your laptop or desktop to get music from YouTube.
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Install 4K YouTube to MP3.
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Paste the YouTube URL into the app and let the app do the rest.
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By default, the app downloads music in mp3 format, but you can also get audio files in m4a or ogg format.
The free version of the app allows 15 downloads per day, which is enough for most people, but can be a problem if you’re trying to download large playlists at once. The app allows you to remove the download limit at a starting price of $15 for a permanent license.
If you’re comfortable using command line tools to download songs from YouTube, then the excellent yt-dlp is another great choice that has no limitations. Personally, I find the initial setup a little cumbersome. Since I mostly download one or two things from YouTube every few months, 4K YouTube to MP3 makes the job faster for me.