YouTube Music Downloader

Turn a public YouTube Music or YouTube link into an actual audio file, with no video-format dump to untangle afterward.

This Actor is built for tracks, talks, mixes, and other public audio you are permitted to download. It selects the strongest compatible audio stream, routes the transfer through the requested access country, and stores one MP3, M4A, or WebM file with a compact metadata record. You can also request a timed transcript or one available caption language.

From music link to saved audio

There is no separate “save” switch: downloading audio is the job of this Actor. Add one or more URLs, choose the access country and output format, and each successfully completed track appears in the dataset with its retained file URL.

Download audio tracks

Add public YouTube Music or YouTube URLs, choose the country and audio format, and optionally request a transcript or one caption language. Missing captions never block the audio file.

Field	Type	Required	Description
urls	array	Yes	One or more public YouTube Music or YouTube video URLs. Bare 11-character video IDs are also accepted in JSON input.
region	string	Yes	Two-letter ISO country code used to retrieve the source audio, such as US, IN, or DE.
audioFormat	string	No	File format for the saved audio. MP3 is the most widely compatible. M4A preserves YouTube's AAC stream without re-encoding, while WebM preserves its Opus stream.
includeTranscript	boolean	No	Add timed transcript segments and combined text when YouTube provides them. This is a transcript or caption, not guaranteed song lyrics.
subtitleLanguage	string	No	Optional language code for one available caption track, such as en, es, or pt-BR. Missing captions do not prevent the audio download.

Example music queue

{
  "urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU"
    }
  ],
  "region": "US",
  "audioFormat": "mp3",
  "includeTranscript": true,
  "subtitleLanguage": "en"
}

Compact track records

The dataset keeps the fields useful after a download: track identity, description, duration, channel, access country, the saved audio object, and any transcript or subtitle you explicitly requested. It does not include thumbnail collections, expiring video formats, or separate video streams.

🎵 Track identity

Field	Type	Description
id	string	YouTube video ID.
url	string	Canonical YouTube watch URL.
title	string	Video title.
description	string	Video description.
durationSeconds	number	Video duration in seconds.
viewCount	number	View count reported when formats were resolved.
channel	object	Channel ID, title, and URL.

🎧 Saved audio

Field	Type	Description
accessCountry	string	Country used to retrieve the saved audio file.
savedFile	object	Saved audio-file details and download URL.

💬 Requested captions

Field	Type	Description
subtitle	object	Requested subtitle track as VTT text when available.
transcript	object	Timed transcript segments and combined text when requested and available.

Example saved track

{
  "id": "arj7oStGLkU",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU",
  "title": "Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator | Tim Urban | TED",
  "description": "Tim Urban knows that procrastination does not make sense...",
  "accessCountry": "US",
  "durationSeconds": 844,
  "channel": {
    "id": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
    "title": "TED",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug"
  },
  "subtitle": {
    "languageCode": "en",
    "languageName": "English",
    "format": "vtt",
    "content": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000\nSo in college..."
  },
  "transcript": {
    "text": "So in college, I was a government major...",
    "segments": [
      {
        "startMs": 0,
        "endMs": 3000,
        "startTime": "0:00",
        "text": "So in college..."
      }
    ]
  },
  "savedFile": {
    "key": "arj7oStGLkU-audio.mp3",
    "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/.../records/arj7oStGLkU-audio.mp3",
    "contentType": "audio/mpeg",
    "container": "mp3",
    "codecs": [
      "mp3"
    ],
    "bitrate": 192000,
    "sizeMb": 19.31,
    "billedMb": 20
  }
}

Pick compatibility or preserve the source

MP3 is converted at 192 kbps for broad support in players, editing tools, and automation. M4A copies YouTube's best available AAC stream, while WebM copies its best available Opus stream. Source-preserving formats avoid quality loss and usually create smaller files.

Only completed files are returned. If a source is private, removed, restricted, or has no compatible public audio stream, it is skipped rather than producing a charged dataset item with a broken file.

Transcripts and subtitles are best-effort additions. Many music videos do not expose either one, and YouTube captions are not guaranteed to be official song lyrics. An unavailable caption never prevents the audio file from being saved.

Until pay-per-event pricing becomes active, saved audio is temporarily limited to 100 MB total per run. Non-paying users can collect up to 500 free results before the Actor asks them to upgrade.

Pricing follows the audio file

Pay-per-event pricing is configured but not active yet. Until activation, the current Store rental applies and each run can save at most 100 MB total. Non-paying users can collect up to 500 free results. After activation, each completed track, saved-audio MB, and successful requested enrichment follows the displayed event rates; failed downloads and unavailable captions are not charged.

Apify's free credits may cover up to 500 lifetime results for non-paying users, subject to the temporary 100 MB saved-audio cap per run.

M4A and WebM preserve the selected source audio without re-encoding. MP3 trades a larger file for broad playback compatibility.

Respect artists and rights holders

Download only tracks and audio you own, content for which you have permission, or material whose license and applicable law allow downloading. You are responsible for complying with YouTube's terms, copyright rules, privacy laws, and any other restrictions that apply to your use case.

Automate a download queue

Python client

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("thenetaji/youtube-music-downloader").call(run_input={
    "urls": [
        {
            "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU"
        }
    ],
    "region": "US",
    "audioFormat": "mp3",
    "includeTranscript": true,
    "subtitleLanguage": "en"
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript client

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN" });
const run = await client.actor("thenetaji/youtube-music-downloader").call({
  "urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU"
    }
  ],
  "region": "US",
  "audioFormat": "mp3",
  "includeTranscript": true,
  "subtitleLanguage": "en"
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Need video too?

• YouTube Video Downloader — Rebuilt YouTube downloader for normalized direct CDN formats or saved playable files. Resolve public videos by access country, automatically combine separate high-quality video and audio, and optionally include subtitles or timed transcripts.
• Instagram Related Users Scraper — Discover Instagram accounts similar to a given user

Track support

Use the Issues tab on the Actor page for a failed public track or audio compatibility problem. Include the run ID, source URL, and selected audio format.