How to Rip Music from YouTube for Free [3 Best Ways]

As one of the most popular streaming platforms globally, YouTube provides many free music videos and playlists. However, streaming music videos consumes more data and occupies your device's screen, which hinders other activities. To address this, you might as well try to rip music from YouTube to MP3 or other formats for more flexible offline listening.

Ripping audio from a YouTube video can mean different things: extracting an existing audio stream, converting that stream into MP3, or recording the sound as the video plays. These methods differ in audio quality, convenience, and technical requirements. This guide focuses on audio extraction from ordinary YouTube videos, rather than downloading songs from the YouTube Music catalog.

The following sections cover three approaches: desktop software, an online audio extractor, and the command-line tool yt-dlp. Before choosing a method, keep in mind that the available source audio and any re-encoding can affect the final file quality.

Method 1. Rip YouTube Song via Best YouTube Music Ripper 🔥

Ripping YouTube Music can be easy with the correct tool. TuneFab YouTube Music Converter stands out as a reliable YouTube ripper, featuring an embedded web player for seamless song search and collection. Compatible with both Windows and Mac, it effortlessly downloads YouTube Music tracks to your computer, preserving high sound quality for offline playback on most devices.

Not only can it rip single songs from YouTube Music, but it also supports playlists and albums, making the whole process effective and friendly.

Now, let's move on to learn how to rip music from YouTube Music in high quality.

Step 1. Install TuneFab YouTube Music Converter, launch it, and select YouTube Music as your source. You can start ripping right away without signing in, but signing in increases conversion reliability and success rates.

Step 2. Search for the song you want in the built-in YouTube Music web player on TuneFab. Click the "Add" or "Add to Convert" button. The tool will instantly analyze your selection and show a list of tracks on the right.

Step 3. On the conversion list, choose the output format, then adjust the bitrate and sample rate as needed.

Step 4. Click "Convert Now" to begin ripping instantly. Alternatively, click "Add to Queue" to move your selected tracks to "Scheduled Task," and then hit "Convert All" to proceed. Once the conversion is complete, you can find your ripped audio files in “Local Library”.

Method 2. Rip Songs from YouTube via TuneFab Tool Online

Being on this page, you would have noticed the web-based tool at the top. Essentially, this browser-based YouTube Music ripper rips music from YouTube Music links directly, without the need to download or install software.

Compatible with computer and phone/tablet browsers, this online tool is developed by TuneFab, a trusted brand with 9 years of experience in digital media ripping. You can rip individual songs right from the interface. If you want to rip an entire playlist or album, you’ll need to log in to the TuneFab member center. Don’t worry - it’s 100% safe and secure.

The MP3s that you rip will keep their original ID3 tags. Before starting, you can choose to rip in either 128kbps or 320kbps quality. If you go for songs from a playlist/album, all tracks will be packed in a batch and zipped into a single ZIP file.

Step 1. Copy the link of the song you want to rip.

Step 2. Paste the link to the blank bar on the online tool on the top of the article, then hit "Download".

Step 3. Wait for a while and the download link will be displayed. Hit "Download MP3".

Method 3. Extract Audio from YouTube via GitHub youtube-dl

yt-dlp is an actively maintained command-line tool supporting thousands of sites, YouTube included. It started as a fork of youtube-dl, which is no longer actively developed. It handles both single videos and full playlists. For audio, it exports AAC, ALAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, OPUS, Vorbis, or WAV, and preserves metadata such as ID3 tags.

The project ships stable, nightly, and master channels, and recommends nightly for regular users since stable builds can go stale and break when YouTube changes. Audio extraction relies on ffmpeg and ffprobe; you need the ffmpeg binary, not the Python package of the same name.

The quality depends on the source and the audio quality you can listen to, according to your account. Despite being a terminal application, yt-dlp is simple enough for a beginner to use. But if you're not comfortable with computers, a YouTube music downloader with an easy UI may be a better option.

Step 1. Install yt-dlp

• Windows users: Download "yt-dlp.exe", the standalone 64-bit build for Windows 8+, from the official release page. No Python needed. Place the .exe file in a folder in your system's PATH, or in the folder you'll run commands from.
• macOS users: Download "yt-dlp_macos", the universal standalone build for macOS 10.15+. Or install via pip: python -m pip install -U yt-dlp
• Linux/BSD users: Download "yt-dlp", the platform-independent zipimport binary (requires Python). Or install via pip: python -m pip install -U yt-dlp

Step 2. yt-dlp uses ffmpeg and ffprobe to merge streams and run post-processing like audio extraction. You need the ffmpeg binary, not the Python package of the same name.

• macOS: brew install ffmpeg
• Windows: Download from yt-dlp/FFmpeg-Builds or ffmpeg.org, extract, and add the bin folder to PATH.
• Linux: Install via your package manager, e.g. sudo apt install ffmpeg.

Step 3. Once yt-dlp and ffmpeg are ready, open your terminal or command prompt and enter: yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 "YouTube URL"

This rips the video, extracts the audio, and converts it to a high-quality MP3. Swap mp3 for aac, alac, flac, m4a, opus, vorbis, or wav as needed. --audio-quality takes 0 (best) to 10 (worst) for VBR, or a fixed rate like 128K; the default is 5.

To set the output filename: yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "YouTube URL"

Comparison: Which Method Suits You to Rip Music from YouTube?

The 3 methods can all help you rip music from YouTube. However, you will find that each of them offers different features and operational processes, so their targeted needs may not exactly match yours. Here is a detailed comparison table for you to choose the one that best fits your current needs.

Each method has its own strengths, depending on the audio source and how you want to process it. Use the guide below to choose the most suitable option for your needs.

FAQs About Ripping Music from YouTube

Is It Legal to Rip Songs from YouTube?

YouTube's Terms of Service restrict downloading, reproducing, or otherwise using content unless the service expressly authorizes the activity, the necessary permission has been obtained, or applicable law permits it. The terms also restrict circumventing features that limit copying or use.

Personal use does not automatically establish that an extraction is permitted. The answer depends on the content, the permissions involved, the applicable law, and the relevant service terms. See the YouTube Terms of Service for the official conditions.

What Audio Quality Can You Get from YouTube?

The available audio quality depends on the source video and the audio streams provided for it. YouTube Music's official audio-quality settings list upper bitrate limits of 48 kbps for Low, 128 kbps for Normal, and 256 kbps for High and Always high, using AAC or Opus. These settings apply to the YouTube Music app; they are not universal bitrate limits for ordinary YouTube videos.

When extracting audio from a regular YouTube video, the selected stream determines the source encoding. Converting it to a higher bitrate does not restore detail lost during earlier compression.

Does Ripping and Converting YouTube Audio to FLAC or WAV Make It Lossless?

No. WAV can store uncompressed audio, while FLAC uses lossless compression. However, converting a lossy source stream to FLAC or WAV does not restore the information discarded during the original encoding. A lossless output format does not prove that the source audio itself is lossless.

Can Music Be Ripped on YouTube Directly?

YouTube's standard video player does not generally provide a feature for exporting a video's audio as a standalone MP3 file. YouTube's offline playback features are intended for playback within supported YouTube experiences and do not ordinarily provide an audio file that can be opened in other apps.

Can I Extract Audio from YouTube Video on iPhone?

Certainly. Given that iOS devices don't have a dedicated YouTube ripper, you would first need to explore the 2 online tools introduced in this article, which are able to rip music directly on your iPhone.

Conclusion

The right way to rip music from YouTube depends on your audio source and preferred workflow. For YouTube Music tracks, TuneFab YouTube Music Converter offers batch ripping, multiple output formats, and adjustable audio settings, while the TuneFab online tool provides a convenient browser-based option. If you want to extract audio from ordinary YouTube videos, yt-dlp offers flexible format and conversion options. Choose the method that best fits your needs, and remember that the final audio quality depends on the original source and any re-encoding.