YouTube Music Downloader

🎧 Download YouTube Music audio files

YouTube Music Downloader downloads audio from direct YouTube Music and YouTube URLs, saves the audio file to Apify storage, and returns a clean dataset row for every successfully saved track. Add track or video URLs, choose an output format such as MP3, M4A, AAC, Opus, FLAC, WAV, Vorbis, or ALAC, and export the results from Apify as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or through the API.

Use it when you already have the YouTube Music or YouTube URLs you want to process and need downloadable audio files with useful source metadata. The actor does not require a YouTube API key, YouTube login, cookies, or user-provided proxy setup.

✅ What this YouTube Music Downloader does

• Accepts direct YouTube Music watch URLs, YouTube watch URLs, Shorts URLs, and youtu.be links.
• Saves one audio file for each successfully processed track or video.
• Supports MP3, M4A, AAC, Opus, FLAC, WAV, Vorbis, ALAC, and Auto format selection.
• Returns title, channel or artist name, duration, thumbnail, upload date, likes, comments, file size, and the saved audio URL when available.
• Skips unavailable, private, invalid, or failed URLs without creating misleading output rows.
• Charges only for URLs that produce a saved downloadable audio file.

This actor is built for direct URL workflows. Playlist expansion, radio queues, search, recommendations, and logged-in private content are not part of the current contract.

📊 Data you can export

Each successful download creates one dataset row. The most important fields are:

• submittedUrl - the exact input URL that produced the row.
• videoId - the YouTube video ID.
• title - the source-backed track or video title.
• channelName and channelUrl - artist or channel details when available.
• durationSeconds - track length in seconds when available.
• thumbnailUrl - best available thumbnail URL.
• audioUrl - Apify storage URL for the saved audio file.
• audioFormat - the actual saved file format.
• audioBitrateKbps, fileSizeBytes, uploadDate, likeCount, and commentCount - additional source or file metadata when available.

Because submittedUrl is included in every row, you can match outputs back to your original input list without needing a separate source URL field.

🚀 How to run

1. Open the actor on Apify.
2. Add one or more direct YouTube Music or YouTube URLs.
3. Choose the audio format and target quality.
4. Start the run.
5. Open the dataset to download the metadata, and use audioUrl to access each saved audio file.

You can also run the actor through Apify API, schedules, webhooks, or integrations when you want to process recurring batches of known URLs.

🔧 Input

Field	Required	Description
urls	Yes	Direct YouTube Music, YouTube watch, Shorts, or youtu.be URLs.
format	No	Audio file type to save. Default is MP3. Auto also uses MP3.
quality	No	Target bitrate or best available source quality.

Use direct track or video links. If a submitted URL cannot be downloaded, it is skipped and no dataset row is emitted for that URL.

📦 Output example

{
  "submittedUrl": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=avP3YCQiJPc",
  "videoId": "avP3YCQiJPc",
  "title": "Kun Anta",
  "channelName": "Humood AlKhudher",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCexample",
  "durationSeconds": 241,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/avP3YCQiJPc/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "audioUrl": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/store-id/records/avP3YCQiJPc.mp3",
  "audioFormat": "mp3",
  "audioBitrateKbps": 128,
  "fileSizeBytes": 3891200,
  "uploadDate": "2022-05-31",
  "likeCount": 73100,
  "commentCount": 818
}

Optional metadata can be null when YouTube does not provide it for a specific URL.

💰 Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing. You are charged $0.00265 only for each submitted YouTube Music or YouTube URL that is saved as a downloadable audio file.

Invalid URLs, private videos, unavailable videos, and failed downloads do not create output rows and are not charged as downloaded tracks.

⚠️ Limits and responsible use

Use this actor only for content you own, have permission to process, or are otherwise allowed to download in your jurisdiction and under the source site's terms.

The actor works with public, directly accessible YouTube Music and YouTube URLs. It does not log into YouTube, bypass private access, expand playlists or radio stations, or process URLs that require a user session.

❓ FAQ

Do I need a YouTube API key, cookies, or login?

No. The actor works from public direct URLs and does not ask for YouTube credentials.

Can it download normal YouTube videos too?

Yes, when the submitted YouTube watch, Shorts, or youtu.be URL exposes downloadable audio. The output is an audio file plus source metadata, not a video file.

Does it expand YouTube Music playlists or radio URLs?

No. Submit the direct track or video URLs you want to download. Playlist and radio expansion are intentionally outside this actor's current scope.

What happens when a URL fails?

The URL is skipped. The actor does not emit a partial row for failed downloads and does not charge the downloaded-track event for that URL.

Which audio format should I choose?

MP3 is the default and works well for most workflows. Use M4A, AAC, Opus, FLAC, WAV, Vorbis, or ALAC when your downstream tool needs that format.

📝 Changelog

• 0.1: Initial release.

🆘 Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, file a ticket and I'll fix or implement it in less than 24h 🫡

🔗 Other actors

• Spotify Downloader ↗ - Resolve Spotify track URLs and searches into metadata, preview URLs, and MP3 media links.
• SoundCloud MP3 Downloader ↗ - Find public SoundCloud track media links and metadata.
• TikTok Video Downloader ↗ - Save public TikTok videos or audio tracks to Apify storage.
• Streamable Video Downloader ↗ - Extract media links and metadata from public Streamable URLs.
• YouTube Region Restriction Checker ↗ - Check where public YouTube videos can be viewed by country.

Made with ❤️ by Maxime Dupré