Youtube2Mp3

Python3 tool to download audio from a YouTube video and convert it to MP3.

You should only retrieve copyright-free MP3 sounds.

Requirements

• Python 3
• ffmpeg (required for MP3 conversion)
• Python packages from requirements.txt (mainly yt-dlp)
• Google Chrome installed (cookies are read from the Chrome profile)

python3 -m venv myenv
source myenv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

If you get HTTP 403 from YouTube:

pip install -U yt-dlp
# or
python3 -m pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default]"

How it works (v1.2)

The script uses the yt-dlp Python API in a single pass:

1. One metadata extraction (title, channel, formats, …)
2. Local filename build (no extra network calls)
3. Download + MP3 conversion, reusing the same metadata

Chrome cookies are loaded once per run. This replaces the old design that spawned 2–3 separate yt-dlp CLI processes.

How to execute

From the folder that contains the script:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -u "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUTUBE_ID"

or with a bare video ID:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -v YOUTUBE_ID

Common options

Flag	Meaning
-u / --url	Full YouTube URL
-v / --video_id	Video ID only
-a / --artist	Prepend a manual artist name to the filename
-n / --add_account_name	Prepend the YouTube channel name
-q / --audio_quality	MP3 bitrate (default: 128K)
-b / --background	Start download in background and return immediately

Examples

Without artist:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -u "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

With artist:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -u "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." -a "Artist Name"

With video ID, channel name in filename, and custom quality:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -v "VIDEO_ID" -n -q 192K

Background mode

Returns the shell immediately; progress goes to a log file:

python3 youtube2mp3.py -v "VIDEO_ID" -n -b

Example output:

Download started in background (pid 12345).
Log: /path/to/youtube2mp3_VIDEO_ID.log
Follow with: tail -f youtube2mp3_VIDEO_ID.log

tail -f youtube2mp3_VIDEO_ID.log

Equivalent shell approach without -b:

nohup python3 youtube2mp3.py -v "VIDEO_ID" -n > dl.log 2>&1 &

Output filename

Pattern (parts omitted when empty):

[channel - ][artist - ]title.mp3

Invalid filename characters are stripped/sanitized automatically.

Notes

• Default audio quality is 128K MP3 (re-encoded from the best available audio).
• Playlists are disabled (noplaylist).
• When finished, leave the venv with deactivate.