How To Download A Song From Youtube On Mac

Save video from the web
Get Downie, a one-click media downloader for Mac.
  • Method 1: Download YouTube to MP3 in 1 Click To download YouTube audio in one click, you will need to launch your favorite browser, open YouTube.com and then search and play the video that you want to download. Once the video starts playing, you will see a 'Download' button at the top left corner.
  • If you do not have access to a desktop computer or MAC, there is still a way to download music from YouTube to your smartphone! There is a range of apps that you can download in the Play Store or Apple Store for free like TubeMate. TubeMate is a popular app that allows you to download audio from YouTube directly to your phone.

Finding free music online and saving it on your Mac it is not as easy as it should be. While there are plenty of artists who’d love you to hear their music and who are happy for you to download it for free, the process of finding and then downloading it can be a bit of a pain.

Even if you know where to go looking (and we’ll help you with that in a minute), saving lots of individual tracks in a web browser one by one can be a slow and frustrating process. That’s where a smart music downloader can help.

Best music downloaders for Mac

Get a huge set of top music download apps for macOS. Best utilities in one pack, give it a go!

The best free YouTube downloader for Mac makes it easy to download YouTube content in any format to save important video or watch it later without Internet access.

Where to get free music to download

There are of course, lots of places on the internet where you can find free music to download. But many of those places link to tracks which included cracked files or music the copyright owner hasn’t given permission to share.

It’s important that when you go looking for free mp3, you only use sources that have permission to share that music.

How to download a song from youtube on mac laptop

Here are a few places where you can find free music to download legally:

  • Jamendo. All the music on Jamendo has been made available by the artists on a Creative Commons licence. That means that, while they retain the rights to the music, they’ve agreed to allow it to be saved to your Mac for free.
  • Soundcloud. It's a hugely popular site where amateur and professional musicians, and some well-known names, share music. Not all of it is available to download for free, and you’ll need to create an account. But there are some real gems to be found.
  • Last.fm. It's another hugely popular site that, among its discovery and sharing features, also allows you to save music tracks for free.

How to download music online

Is it legal to download music for free? Yes, as long as the copyright owner consents. On all of the sites listed above, the rights owner has consented to allow their music to be downloaded.

There is a number of both paid and free tools that help download free music. Based on your requirements, decide on the functionality of a downloader you’re searching: Should it cover video and torrent as well? Batch downloads? Scheduling?

Here are the key features of music downloader we recommend you pay attention to:

  1. Control the speed of downloads. For instance, Folx splits large files into multiple threads, so they download more quickly.
  2. Schedule downloads so they only take place at times they won’t place too many demands on your computer.
  3. Video and torrents covered. You can get a one-stop downloader for capturing different types of media on your Mac.
  4. Tag downloads to easily find them later.

Get the best music downloader

Setapp offers a number of music and video downloaders in one package – so you can toggle between different features and interfaces or pick one tool that perfectly covers your needs. Once you install Setapp, click on its icon in the menu bar and search for downloaders there. You’ll be suggested Elmedia Player, AnyTrans, Folx, and Downie. On the selected app, click Install and wait for it to travel to your Mac. Double-click to launch the app.

Here’s the quick overview of each of them:

How To Download A Song From Youtube On MacFrom
  • Folx: Combines functionality of a download manager and torrent client. This is the best option for capturing large media files, while the app splits downloads in up to 20 streams.
  • Elmedia Player: A great alternative to Apple’s native media player – QuickTime, with a convenient audio playback feature.
  • Downie: Video and audio downloader that’s based on superb drag and drop functionality.
  • AnyTrans: A file transferring solution and a media downloader that works with iOS and macOS devices.
  • Pulltube: A universal media downloader that lets you instantly adjust the length of your video and music tracks.

Add the link to the track you want

Once you’ve found a track you want to save, copy the link. To do that, you’ll need to identify the download link on the site – it will usually be an icon with a downward arrow in it. Don’t click it, instead right-click or Control-click it. From the menu that appears, click Copy Link.

If you use Folx, paste the link with ⌘+V keyboard shortcut. Or the main Folx window, press the ‘+’ button next to the text bar at the top of the window. You should see that the box at the top of the window that opens already has the URL you copied in it. If not, paste it where it says ‘Add URL here.’ To download music from YouTube, select Audio in Quality.

It’s pretty similar with Downie – with the exception that you have to drag the link onto the app icon. To extract music from video, navigate to Settings > Extract Audio Only. From there, you can also customize the quality of output files, convert videos, or send to Permute – a universal media converter.

Choose where your music are stored

How To Download A Song From Youtube On Mac

Once you’ve added the link, choose where you want to save it to. If you’re happy to leave the destination at its default, great. If not, you can change it as you like in any app. In Downie, open Preferences > General > Put new downloads in/Save files to folder. For those using Folx, you can also customize app’s behavior upon completing a download – quit, sleep, shutdown, or do nothing.

In case you want to move your audio collections across devices, you can do so with AnyTrans for iOS. A handy file transferring app with an in-built media downloader, it helps you flexibly manage downloads – transfer from iPhone to Mac, integrate with iTunes, or copy to any iOS device.

Choose when to download tracks

Downie and Folx have scheduling features, so you can choose when the downloads should take place.

To activate delayed queue start in Downie, go to File > Delayed start and select a custom time slot.

In Folx, click on the menu and choose ‘Manual’ or ’Schedule’. If you choose manual, the download will be set up and then paused and displayed in the main Folx window. You can start it at anytime by clicking the icon to the left of its name. If you want to change a download from manual to scheduled or automatic, you can double-click it in the main window and change the setting in the menu.

If you choose to schedule, files will be downloaded according to the schedule you create in Folx Preferences.

Download a song and set it as a ringtone

If you can’t stand your default phone ringtone anymore, there’s a solution. You can grab any of your favorite songs from the web and transform it into a custom ringtone with Pulltube app.

You can download music to Pulltube by simply dragging the link into the app window, or saving via a browser extension. After you download your file, click on the scissors button below it and enter the Trimming Mode. In the pop-up window, you’ll be able to play the audio and adjust the length of your ringtone. Once you’re ready, hit Trim and save the ringtone.

Create a download schedule

If you want to plan multiple downloads, Folx is there to help. Open Preferences from the Folx menu and click on ‘Scheduler’. Now click on the time slots where you want downloading to take place. When the box changes color, click on it twice so it turns bright green. Scheduled downloads will now take place at that time.

Continue customizing

Once you’ve scheduled, think whether there are any other settings you want to twick. If you use Folx, you can select the number of threads into which you want to split the download. The default is two and for most music files that will be fine. If the file you’re downloading is particularly large, you might want to select a higher number.

Elmedia Player has robust customization options for audio – for instance, you can select audio device and the number of playback channels.

Authenticate if it’s required

If the website needs a username and password, click Authenticate. Click ‘Saved Passwords’ and then ‘Add.’ Choose ‘HTTP or FTP password’ and type in the URL of the login page, your username and your password in the next window that opens. Click Ok.

You’re all set. You can now download free music using Folx from any website that makes it available.

Most of the music you find will be MP3 files, which can be played on your Mac. If the files are in a format that won’t run on your Mac, you can use Permute to convert media.

You’re all set. You can capture and manage free music downloads using a Mac app that suits your flow.

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From not being able to enjoy it outside of a concert hall to being able to walk with hundreds of songs in your pocket, the way that people listen to music has changed drastically over the years. This accessibility has also helped to make music cheaper; no longer do you have to buy that entire album, just for a single three-minute song that you love. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have made it possible to add new songs to your music library very quickly, but there is still a catch: you can only enjoy these songs through your Wi-Fi or data connection unless you pay a monthly fee to gain offline access. While this usually a relatively small fee for unlimited music access, not everyone can afford to shell it out month after month. That’s where an MP3 downloader for Mac can become helpful.

What is an MP3 Downloader?

An MP3 downloader is a tool that makes it possible to download music from YouTube and convert it into an MP3 format, or that let you download MP3 songs directly from the website you found it on. There are countless different versions of these programs available; some that work through websites, requiring an Internet connection while others are available to download onto your desktop to use with or without the Internet.

However, even though countless versions of this kind of program exist, Apple users need to look specifical for an MP3 downloader for Mac to even be able to open the app. Keep in mind, however, that downloading music with this method has some legality issues: you should only use these downloaders to download music you have paid for, that is in the public domain, or that is royalty free. But, with that said, here are some of the best MP3 downloaders for Mac currently available.

1. MP3Jam

If you’re looking for an MP3 downloader for Mac that is both quick and easy-to-use, MP3Jam is a great option. With MP3Jam, you can download multiple songs from different locations all at once, making downloading new songs a quick process. They also work hard to try and find the best quality version of the song you searched for, so you can be sure it will be high quality, going up to 320kbps, unlike other downloaders which may not offer such high quality for the content that you download. While MP3Jam is a free-to-use MP3 downloader for Mac, there is a catch. With this application, you cannot download an entire album all at once and are also limited to just five songs per 25-minute period.

2. Vuze

Vuze is considered by some to be the best current BitTorrent MP3 downloader for Mac. It is an updated, much improved, and much more powerful version of an older software called Azureus, which was made by the same company. Vuze is jam-packed with free user options and is incredibly customizable when it comes the settings. For those unsure of what are the best settings, Vuze makes it simple by providing users with clear descriptions as to what each option means. But, for a program like Vuze, which has so many fantastic features, to be free, there is a bit of a catch: you have to deal with ads. So, to avoid those ads while you download new music, you would have to pay for a subscription.

3. Jakasta

Song

Jakasta is another MP3 downloader for Mac that is very popular. However, while other applications search through the various BitTorrent networks to help you find the music you want, Jakasta does something a little different. With this application, when there is a song you want to download, you need to turn on the programs “monitoring” mode before hitting play on the given song. Jakasta then will display the information within the program window, along with a downloadable MP3 link, which you can then add to your preferred media player. The program can identify over 3 million songs and find high-quality download links. While Jakasta offers a free version of their program, there is also an option to purchase their software to gain access to more features.

4. FrostWire

There’s a chance you’ve heard of FrostWire before; it was like the less popular cousin to popular programs like Napster and LimeWire. If you haven’t heard of FrostWire, it is a Peer-to-Peer information sharing client that allows users to share and search for different files, including MP3 files, all within the BitTorrent network. With FrostWire, you can use it for all sorts of different files, not just music. But, more than anything, people use FrostWire as an MP3 downloader for Mac. Unlike other BitTorrent clients, FrostWire includes a media player and library, making it possible to enjoy your music all in one place. With FrostWire, you can also preview songs before downloading, which is something other BitTorrent programs do not allow you to do for free.

5. Media Human

Media Human is another MP3 downloader for Mac, that you can use to download music from some different websites, including YouTube, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, VEVO, and so many more. You are even able to download multiple songs simultaneously, making it easier to download multiple songs in a single go. On top of that, everything you download using Media Human can easily be transferred into iTunes or your preferred media library. Media Human can also help you find album or song artwork if you are someone that likes to have their music library have a visual aspect. Another cool feature that Media Human has that you cannot find in other similar programs is the ability to search for lyrics, without ever having to leave the software. The best part about Media Human is that it is freeware, so it is entirely free to download and use.

6. iTube Studio

Another well-loved and widely known MP3 downloader for Mac is iTube Studio. This downloader, like all the others, offers users high-quality MP3 downloads, locating them with just a web link. It can get songs from 10,000 different websites, including YouTube, Vimeo, MTV, and Metacafe. With iTube Studio, you can also convert the files you download into a wide range of audio and video formats to fit your needs. It is one of the simpler, more straightforward programs available to Mac users. But, iTube Studio is still a reliable MP3 downloader program, and it does an excellent job of downloading and converting different files for your offline enjoyment.

7. Airy YouTube Downloader

How To Download Music From Youtube On Mac Free

BitTorrent software can be a bit intimidating for some people. If you are reluctant to try those kinds of programs, another option is to turn to an MP3 downloader for Mac that works with video sites like YouTube to download content. Airy YouTube Downloader allows you to search for YouTube videos within the interface of the program to then download and convert them into a high-quality MP3, MP4, and FLV files. Airy is by far one of the most straightforward programs that you can use to convert your favorite music from a YouTube video format into an MP3 audio format.

8. FLVTO YouTube Downloader

FLVTO is another free Mac program that allows users to take YouTube video links and convert them into downloadable audio files. With this program, users can not only convert their files in MP3 format, but also MP3, MP4, AVI, FLV, AAC, MOV, WMV, and WMA. But, it also makes it possible to extract audio files from video content before converting it into your desired format. It also uses HD-quality versions of the videos when it can, to ensure the highest quality of sound during the conversion.

Honorable Mention: All2MP3 for Mac

All2MP3 for Mac is not an actual MP3 downloader for Mac, but an MP3 converter. In other words,the All2MP3 for Mac software will easily allow you to convert music files between over 25 different file times. The All2MP3 for Mac program has been the preferred audio converter for Mac users for over eight years, so you can be sure it is incredibly reliable. What makes All2MP3 for Mac even more popular with Mac users is that it is entirely free.

How To Download A Song From Youtube On Mac Laptop

Even though music has become cheaper every year, thanks to new technology, sometimes having an MP3 downloader for Mac can be useful. These programs all offer quick, easy, and efficient ways to download new music for you to enjoy without having to need an Internet connection. But, the best part of these programs? All of them are free, or at least offer free versions, with the option of paid accounts if you want more features and ad-free downloading, making them accessible to everyone with a computer. But, just as mentioned at the beginning of this article, these programs need to be used with care, considering the various copyright laws that come with downloading music and other kinds of online content for free. With that in mind, however, when you need an MP3 downloader for Mac, then this list is bound to have a perfect option for you.

How To Download A Song From Youtube On Mac Free

If you don’t want to install a third-party app to download music on your mac, you can also download music from your browsers like Safari & Firefox. This is a very easy and efficient way for users who can’t or don’t want to install apps for some reason.