3 Ways to Download YouTube Music to Windows Media Player

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Grace
July 23, 2024

Windows Media Player (WMP) is a long-standing media player and library application developed by Microsoft for playing, organizing, and managing digital media like music and videos. Many users find it handy for background music listening during work or study sessions.

While it’s useful for playing local media files, WMP lacks online streaming capabilities. For example, if you’re a YouTube Music subscriber but prefer the features and interface of Windows Media Player, you may want to know if you can play YouTube Music songs on it.

YouTube Music does offer a Premium subscription that allows users to download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening. However, these downloads are restricted to the YouTube Music app and can’t be used in other programs or on different devices.

Fortunately, there are alternative methods to convert YouTube Music to MP3, enabling you to listen to your favorite tracks on Windows Media Player offline. Read on to discover three ways to download YouTube Music to MP3 for your enjoyment.

  1. Method 1: Using a free online YouTube downloader
  2. Method 2: Using a Professional YouTube Music to MP3 Converter
  3. Method 3: Converting YouTube Music with an audio recorder
  4. Transfer Downloaded YouTube Music to Windows Media Player
  5. Final Thoughts

Method 1: Using a free online YouTube downloader

y2mate YouTube Downloader is a free online tool designed for downloading content from YouTube and YouTube Music. It offers a straightforward process for converting both video and audio files, including downloading YouTube Music songs into high-quality 320kbps MP3 files.

However, y2mate is an ad-supported website, and users need to go through several advertisements while downloading a single song. At times, you might encounter as many as 6-8 ads during the process. Here’s how to download YouTube Music to MP3 using y2mate:

  1. Open the YouTube Music website/mobile app and find the song you want to download. Click on the three dots>Share>Copy link.
copy youtube music link

  1. Visit y2mate.com and choose YouTube to MP3 at the top right corner of the page.
go to online downloader

  1. Paste the copied YouTube Music song URL into the search box on y2mate.
paste youtube music link

  1. Choose the desired MP3 quality for the conversion. You can select up to 320kbps for the downloaded song.
choose mp3 quality

  1. Click the Download button to initiate the conversion process.
download youtube music song

  1. After the conversion is complete, click the Download.mp3 button to download the MP3 file to your device.
download mp3

Throughout the process, you will encounter multiple ads at various stages. Simply ignore these advertisements and proceed with the download steps.

Method 2: Using a Professional YouTube Music to MP3 Converter

For those seeking to download YouTube Music to MP3, there’s a reliable software tool called Pazu YouTube Music Converter. This tool allows you to download YouTube Music songs, albums, and playlists, with both Free and Premium YouTube Music accounts. Additionally, you don’t need to manually copy and paste YouTube Music links, as Pazu YouTube Music Converter features a built-in YouTube Music web player, making it easy to search and download your desired music in lossless quality with full ID3 tags.

Once you have converted songs from YouTube Music into standard formats, you can easily transfer and play them on Windows Media Player. Here are the detailed steps on how to download YouTube Music songs to MP3 using Pazu YouTube Music Converter:

1. Run Pazu YouTube Music Converter 

To get started, download, install and run Pazu YouTube Music Converter on your Mac or Windows, which features a built-in YouTube Music web player.

After installation, launch the YouTube Music to MP3 Converter. If you have already purchased a license, click the key icon to register the converter. Otherwise, continue using the trial version.

YouTube Music Converter

2. Customize the Output Settings

Click on Settings (the gear icon) in the upper right corner to customize the output format, quality, folder, file name, language, etc.

settings

3. Add songs

Browse or use the search function to find the songs, albums, or playlists you want to download, then click the red Add to List icon to load the songs.

choose YouTube Music playlists

By default, all songs in the playlist or album will be selected. You can uncheck any songs you don’t want to download.

choose YouTube Music songs

4. Download Music from YouTube Music

Click on the Convert button and the program will start converting the YouTube Music songs.

convert YouTube Music to MP3

5. Locate the Converted Songs

After the conversion process is complete, click on the clock icon in the upper right corner to access the converted YouTube Music songs. To locate the downloaded songs:

  • You can either click the folder icon to open the output folder where the songs are saved;
    or
  • Directly go to the output folder you customized in the previous step.
YouTube Music to MP3 converter

Now that you have successfully converted your YouTube Music songs to MP3, you can transfer and play them on Windows Media Player or any other media player of your choice.

Method 3: Converting YouTube Music to MP3 with an audio recorder

Using Audacity, a free and versatile audio recorder and editor, is another way to convert YouTube Music to MP3. It works on various operating systems like Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.

audio recorder

However, when using Audacity to record streaming YouTube Music, note that it can also capture other sounds, including ambient noise or sounds from your microphone. To ensure optimal results when recording YouTube Music with Audacity, take precautions to minimize unwanted noise during the recording process.

Here are the steps to record YouTube Music using Audacity:

  1. Download and install Audacity on your device, then launch the application.
  2. Play the desired YouTube Music song you wish to record.
  3. Return to Audacity and click the red circular Record button to start recording. Click the square Stop button when you’ve finished.
audio recorder

  1. To save the recorded file in MP3 format, navigate to File > Export > Export as MP3.
export as mp3

During the process of saving the recorded YouTube Music files, you can also edit the file name and metadata tags according to your preferences.

While Audacity provides a method for converting YouTube Music to MP3, keep in mind that there might be a potential loss of audio quality when using this recording method.

Transfer Downloaded YouTube Music to Windows Media Player

Once you have downloaded the YouTube Music songs in MP3, you can upload them to Windows Media Player by performing a simple drag-and-drop of the MP3 files directly into WMP.

Alternatively, you can tap Library > Music > All music in the menu bar to locate and browse the downloaded YouTube Music MP3 files. From there, you can select the specific songs you wish to play with Windows Media Player.

wmp library

Final Thoughts

If you only have a few YouTube Music songs to convert to MP3 for Windows Media Player, you can use an online converter or an audio recorder. While these methods might have some ads and quality concerns, they do serve the purpose of converting songs individually.

However, for batch-converting YouTube Music to MP3, especially for entire playlists, Pazu YouTube Music Converter is the better choice. It offers more features, greater performance, and stability. Windows Media Player supports various audio formats, including MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, and more, and Pazu can download YouTube Music in these formats for both free and premium users, making it a convenient choice for managing and enjoying your music within Windows Media Player.

To get started, download the Pazu YouTube Music Converter now

YouTube Music Converter

YouTube Music Converter

Download and convert YouTube Music to MP3, M4A, etc