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Stokry
Stokry

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Download Youtube video to mp3 with Python

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()
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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 (25)

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mesuzy profile image
me-suzy

`from pytube import YouTube

def progress(stream, chunk, bytes_remaining):
total_size = stream.filesize
bytes_downloaded = total_size - bytes_remaining
percentage_of_completion = bytes_downloaded / total_size * 100
print(f"Descărcare: {percentage_of_completion:.2f}% completă.")

def download_mp3(video_url, output_path):
yt = YouTube(video_url)
yt.register_on_progress_callback(progress)
audio_stream = yt.streams.filter(only_audio=True).first()
audio_stream.download(output_path)
print(f"Descărcarea melodiei '{yt.title}' este completă.")

video_url = "youtube.com/watch?v=YsmfWkE6FUg"
output_path = "d://Downloads//uuu"
download_mp3(video_url, output_path)
`

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kirbsbtw profile image
Bastian Lipka • 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()
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comment for simplification.
You can now also choose the output!

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bubblicious profile image
bubblicious-a

Thanks. I will try this out.

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stokry profile image
Stokry • Edited

Thank you.

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mortezamsaber profile image
Masih • 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!')
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clayhsu profile image
Clay-Hsu

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

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rowemore profile image
Rowe Morehouse

why not pytube?

pypi.org/project/pytube/

or pytube3, pytubeX

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chami profile image
Mohammed Chami • 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.

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mraffi30 profile image
mohammed raffi

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?

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stokry profile image
Stokry

I will test this out and let you know.

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mraffi30 profile image
mohammed raffi

Thanks....awaiting your feedback.

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tankerguy1917 profile image
tankerguy1917

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

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stokry profile image
Stokry

Thanks.

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jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • 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"

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stokry profile image
Stokry

Maybe, but I disagree with you.

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langtv profile image
Tran Van Lang

it is really userfully

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stokry profile image
Stokry

Thanks

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langtv profile image
Tran Van Lang

Help me how to convert and download to mp4 file.

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stokry profile image
Stokry

You can use pytube. It's lightweight, dependency-free Python library (and command-line utility) for downloading YouTube Videos.

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mbcrump profile image
Michael Crump

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

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michaelcurrin profile image
Michael Currin • 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.

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pablo_gnas profile image
Pablo

I've got "WARNING: yaBcFvKEXDo" and it suggested me to install ffmpeg or avconv to fix this, but what should I do when I install it?

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zeppipoju1 profile image
zeppipoju*

hi, where does the file go after you download it? it isnt showing up for me anywhere

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