Stokry

Posted on May 17, 2021

Download Youtube video to mp3 with Python

#python #showdev #tutorial #productivity

I often need to download videos from Youtube in mp3 format. There are many websites where you can convert Youtube videos to mp3, but I am giving you a simple Python script that does the same job.

I am using youtube_dl. Command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and other video sites. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.7, or 3.2+, and it is not platform-specific. It should work on your Unix box, on Windows, or on macOS.

Let's jump to the code:

import youtube_dl
def run():
    video_url = input("please enter youtube video url:")
    video_info = youtube_dl.YoutubeDL().extract_info(
        url = video_url,download=False
    )
    filename = f"{video_info['title']}.mp3"
    options={
        'format':'bestaudio/best',
        'keepvideo':False,
        'outtmpl':filename,
    }

    with youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(options) as ydl:
        ydl.download([video_info['webpage_url']])

    print("Download complete... {}".format(filename))

if __name__=='__main__':
    run()

Just enter the URL of the song and the script will download that song in mp3 format, cool isn't it?

Thank you all.

Top comments (22)

bubblicious-a • May 17 '21

Thanks. I will try this out.

Stokry • May 17 '21 • Edited

Thank you.

Masih • Nov 27 '22 • Edited

Here is also the code to download mp3 from youtube in highest possible quality using pytube:

from pytube import YouTube
import os
from pathlib import Path


def youtube2mp3 (url,outdir):
    # url input from user
    yt = YouTube(url)

    ##@ Extract audio with 160kbps quality from video
    video = yt.streams.filter(abr='160kbps').last()

    ##@ Downloadthe file
    out_file = video.download(output_path=outdir)
    base, ext = os.path.splitext(out_file)
    new_file = Path(f'{base}.mp3')
    os.rename(out_file, new_file)
    ##@ Check success of download
    if new_file.exists():
        print(f'{yt.title} has been successfully downloaded.')
    else:
        print(f'ERROR: {yt.title}could not be downloaded!')

Clay-Hsu • Jan 14

But it I can't edit the mp3 tags of the file download with it. Can anyone tell me what happand?

mohammed raffi • May 18 '21

Tried this code and, mind full that I am a beginner! Running this in Jupyter Notebook i didn't get prompt to add the URL?

Stokry • May 18 '21

I will test this out and let you know.

mohammed raffi • May 19 '21

Thanks....awaiting your feedback.

Rowe Morehouse • May 24 '21

why not pytube?

pypi.org/project/pytube/

or pytube3, pytubeX

Mohammed Chami • Aug 18 '22 • Edited

I used the pytube but I don't know how to download files as mp3, I did download the audio only but the format was mp4.
that's why I am trying this library as I found an explanation how to do it.

Bastian Lipka • Feb 8 • Edited

thaks for the post!
i had some problems with the code and i extended it to be able to download single songs and playlists. (sorry for the bad english not nativ)

import youtube_dl

def main():
    link = input("give link: ")
    output = "C:/something/somethin" # example path

    prepLink(link, output)


def downloadVideo(videoInfo ,path):
    try:
        filename = f"{path}/{videoInfo['title']}.mp3"
        options={
            'format':'bestaudio/best',
            'keepvideo':False,
            'outtmpl': filename,
        }
        print(f"[script] downloading {videoInfo['title']}")

        with youtube_dl.YoutubeDL(options) as ydl:
            ydl.download([videoInfo['webpage_url']])
    except:
        print("error occured with one video")

def prepLink(link, path):
    video_url = link
    video_info = youtube_dl.YoutubeDL().extract_info(
        url = video_url,download=False
    )

    try: 
        # trying it for a playlist
        for singleVideoInfo in video_info['entries']:
            downloadVideo(singleVideoInfo, path)
    except KeyError:
        # if the KeyError is raised it will be a  KeyError: 'entries'
        # it is a single video
        downloadVideo(video_info, path)
    print("download complete")

if __name__=='__main__':
    main()

comment for simplification.
You can now also choose the output!

Tran Van Lang • May 21 '21

it is really userfully

Stokry • May 22 '21

Thanks

tankerguy1917 • May 20 '21

Really cool. I tried it out and it works really fast, and flawlessly.

Stokry • May 22 '21

Thanks.

Jon Randy 🎖️ • May 17 '21 • Edited

Seriously, most of these "How to do X in language Y" type 'articles' should be renamed "How to call a function in language Y"

Stokry • May 17 '21

Maybe, but I disagree with you.

Michael Crump • May 18 '21

What do I get out of this vs just running the program itself.

Michael Currin • May 18 '21 • Edited

The CLI might be sufficient for the average use case.

The docs explain how to use the CLI with options.

github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#des...

I guess the downside is that you have to pass those on the command-line each time, so you can write a shell script or Python script which effectively holds all that config logic and asks for user input and runs the library.

The CLI options look comprehensive so I'd guess the features are the same. And for a simple case like download a single video, the CLI way could fit on one or two lines and save having to setup a Python script of 10 or 20 lines.

But maybe using the library in a Python script helps for a level of abstraction. Like if you want to build a web or GUI interface on top or have more control on what to download and where it is saved and making directories or printing a progress report or retrying bad URLs etc.