YT Playlist to MP3

YT Playlist to MP3 is a lightweight Python utility that downloads audio from YouTube videos or playlists and automatically converts them to high-quality MP3 files using yt-dlp and FFmpeg.

The tool provides a simple CLI workflow that allows downloading either:

• a single video
• a full playlist

and converts the extracted audio to MP3 while storing the results in a structured local directory.

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Features

Playlist download

Download all videos from a YouTube playlist and convert them to MP3.

Single video support

Download and convert individual YouTube videos.

Automatic audio extraction

Uses yt-dlp to extract the best available audio stream.

MP3 conversion

Uses FFmpeg to convert audio to high-quality MP3.

Cookie support

Allows reading cookies from your browser to bypass YouTube restrictions when needed.

Simple CLI interface

Interactive menu for quick use without command-line parameters.

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Requirements

The tool depends on the following components:

• Python 3.10+
• yt-dlp
• FFmpeg
• Optional: Node.js (recommended for modern YouTube extraction)

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Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/rwxce/yt-playlist-to-mp3.git
cd yt-playlist-to-mp3

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2. Create a virtual environment

Linux / macOS

python -m venv venv
source ./venv/bin/activate

Windows (Git Bash)

python -m venv venv
source ./venv/Scripts/activate

Windows (PowerShell)

python -m venv venv
.\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

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3. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

The project currently requires:

yt-dlp

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Installing FFmpeg

FFmpeg is required to convert downloaded audio into MP3 format.

Windows

Install using winget:

winget install Gyan.FFmpeg

Verify installation:

ffmpeg -version

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Linux

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpeg

Fedora

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

Verify installation:

ffmpeg -version

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macOS

Install using Homebrew:

brew install ffmpeg

Verify installation:

ffmpeg -version

If FFmpeg is not installed, yt-dlp will download the audio but will not be able to convert it to MP3.

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Installing Node.js (recommended)

Newer versions of YouTube sometimes require a JavaScript runtime.

Install Node.js:

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Verify:

node -v

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Usage

Run the program:

python main.py

You will see the menu:

Welcome to the Youtube Downloader
1) Playlist
2) Single Video

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Cookies (optional)

If YouTube blocks the download, you can load cookies from your browser.

Example input:

chrome
firefox
edge

Leave empty to skip.

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Output structure

Downloaded files are stored in:

result/Jazz/

Example output:

result/
└── Jazz/
    ├── Autumn Leaves.mp3
    ├── So What.mp3
    └── Blue in Green.mp3

Files are automatically converted to MP3.

By default, downloaded files are saved in:

result/Jazz/

You can change the genre folder name in the script to organize downloads by music style.

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Project Structure

YT Playlist to MP3/
│
├── main.py
├── requirements.txt
├── README.md
│
└── result/
    └── Jazz/

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How It Works

The script internally runs:

yt-dlp --extract-audio --audio-format mp3

Workflow:

YouTube
   ↓
yt-dlp downloads audio stream
   ↓
FFmpeg converts audio → MP3
   ↓
File saved locally

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Intended Use

This project is intended for:

• Personal offline music listening
• Educational purposes
• Automation of playlist downloads
• Archiving publicly available audio content

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Disclaimer

Users are responsible for complying with YouTube Terms of Service and copyright laws.

This tool is intended for personal and educational use only.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

See the LICENSE file for details.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

Possible improvements:

• Automatic playlist folder naming
• Metadata tagging (artist/title)
• Progress bar UI
• Parallel downloads
• CLI argument support