Imagine you go out for a run and want to listen to a playlist or a podcast of your choice to make the time pass quicker. Now, if you want to watch videos on YouTube, you will have to have a fast, reliable, and constant internet connection - which, depending on where you exercise, may not always be possible.
Not to mention you will have to keep your screen on at all times and you won’t be able to use the app in the background.
That means that whatever you do on your phone (check your steps, weather, email, messages, calls, etc.), it will inevitably interrupt your video.
Not only does that make it inconvenient to watch YouTube as you’re doing something else (like jogging, for example), but it will also quickly drain your phone battery, leaving you with nothing to listen to. The horror. The horror.
Sure, you can work around that by becoming a YouTube Premium subscriber, but that convenience will set you back $11.99 per month (the cost of a standard membership).
Alternatively, you can find ways to convert YouTube to MP4 or MP3 files, store them in your device, and then watch or listen to them whenever, wherever, and however you want, without worrying about your internet connection or phone battery.
Previously we talked about the best YouTube to MP4 converters and the best YouTube to MP3 converters, and without any false modesty, we recommended Subly as one of your best bets in both cases.
To be clear, this is not about us tooting our own horn. Well, maybe it is a little bit, but it’s for a good reason!
There are certainly hundreds of online converters available but many of them are filled with annoying ads that can crash your browser (it’s happened to us!).
Even worse, there are also converters built with malware and adware intended to take over your device without you even knowing.
For those reasons, we recommend extra caution when converting YouTube videos to MP3 files, and Subly is undoubtedly one of the most reliable and safest options available out there.
In this article, we’re gonna guide you through the process of converting a YouTube video to an MP3 file. It’s very easy and it will only take minutes, so here we go:
Step 1: Check Your YouTube link
First, check the YouTube link of the video you wish to convert. Keep in mind that you can only convert a YouTube video to MP3 if your desired video is set to a public setting.
If the video is set to private or if it’s unlisted, unfortunately, you will not be able to convert it. In that case, your best bet is to contact the video owner and ask them to set it to public.
Step 2: Open Subly
Once you have the link to your YouTube video you want to convert, open and log into Subly.
Paste the YouTube link into the field which asks you to Enter URL, YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok and more.
On a side note, even though we are focusing on YouTube videos in this article, you can also convert videos from many other major platforms like the ones mentioned above. That may turn out to be particularly useful because not all videos will be available on YouTube and you may have better luck finding them on other platforms.
Once you paste the link, click the import button. Depending on the length of the video, it may take a minute or two for Subly to process the file.
Step 3: Convert Your YouTube Video to MP3
Once the conversion is done, the thumbnail for the converted file will pop up on the screen. Click on it and that will open the Subly editor.
Go to the left upper corner, click on the blue button, and you’ll get the download menu.
Click on the audio tab - MP3 audio format will already be selected for you - then hit the download button.
That will download the audio from your YouTube link in an MP3 file onto your device.
You can also select the option to download the file directly to your Google Drive. That way, you can save yourself some time by not having to download the file on your desktop and then having to upload it to Google Drive for backup.
And there you go. In just three quick and easy steps, you will have your MP3 file to listen to at your convenience.
But that’s not all. Subly offers a truly astonishing amount of helpful features for any user, including a snippet tool that you can use to edit or shorten your files, or a tool that generates accurate captions and subtitles in a whole range of formats and translates them to a mind-boggling number of languages.
What’s more, if instead of listening to your MP3 file, you’d prefer to read a transcription of it, that’s another thing that Subly can do for you! But let’s save that topic for another time.
One more important note. You may be wondering if downloading and converting videos from YouTube and other platforms may get you into murky legal territory.
The truth is it’s completely legal to download and convert videos for your personal use. However, if you plan to edit them, publicly post them, or monetize them in any way, you will need the legal rights to do so.
In that case, we suggest reaching out to the author of the video and asking for permission to use it publicly.
So, now that you’re all set and you have your MP3 files converted and downloaded, you can go ahead on your run with peace of mind.
You won’t need an internet connection, you will save your phone battery, and you can check your phone as much as you want without interrupting your listening experience. That’s win-win-win!
