Get an MP3 from a video

Stem Splitter works from an audio file on your computer. If the song you want is in an online video, you can save its audio as an MP3 with yt-dlp, a free, open-source tool. It's a one-time setup, then one command per song.

Before you start

Only download audio you have the right to use. Most music is copyrighted, and many video sites, YouTube included, don't allow downloading in their terms of service. You're responsible for following them. See our Terms & Copyright.
Avoid "free YouTube to MP3" websites. Many of them are full of misleading ads and can install unwanted software. yt-dlp runs on your own computer and doesn't have that problem.

Mac

One-time setup (about 5 minutes)

Open Terminal: press ⌘ Space, type Terminal, press Enter.
If you don't have Homebrew yet, install it. Paste this, press Enter, and follow the prompts:
```
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
```
When it finishes, it may print two or three "Next steps" commands. Run those too.
Install yt-dlp and the two helpers it needs:
```
brew install yt-dlp ffmpeg deno
```

Each time you want a song

Copy the video's link from your browser's address bar.
In Terminal, paste this, replace LINK with the video's link (keep the quotes), and press Enter:
```
cd ~/Downloads && yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --no-playlist "LINK"
```
The MP3 appears in your Downloads folder. Upload it on Stem Splitter.

Keeping it working

Video sites change often. If downloads start failing, update first:

brew upgrade yt-dlp

Windows 10 / 11

One-time setup (about 5 minutes)

Open Terminal or PowerShell: right-click the Start button and choose Terminal.
Install yt-dlp and its two helpers by pasting these one at a time, pressing Enter after each. Accept any prompts.
```
winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp
winget install Gyan.FFmpeg
winget install DenoLand.Deno
```
Close Terminal and open it again so Windows finds the new programs.

Each time you want a song

Copy the video's link from your browser's address bar.
In Terminal, paste this, replace LINK with the video's link (keep the quotes), and press Enter:
```
cd $HOME\Downloads; yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --no-playlist "LINK"
```
The MP3 appears in your Downloads folder. Upload it on Stem Splitter.

Keeping it working

If downloads start failing, update first:

winget upgrade yt-dlp.yt-dlp

If something goes wrong

"command not found" or "not recognized": the setup didn't finish, or (on Windows) Terminal wasn't reopened. Repeat the setup steps.
It downloads many songs at once: the link was a playlist or "Mix". The command above already prevents this with --no-playlist, so check that it's included.
"Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" or other errors: update yt-dlp (see above) and try again. Some videos can't be downloaded at all.
The file is over 80 MB: very long recordings may be too big to upload. Choose a single song rather than a full concert or album.