How to Download Music to Your Computer: The Common Methods Explained



Did you know that you can listen to over 50 million songs on Spotify? In our uber-connected world, it is easier than ever to listen to the songs that you need when you need them. However, there is a problem. Many of these songs are available online only. This means that you can only listen to them when you have a stable internet connection to the service provider. What can you do if this is not possible? Is it possible to learn how to download music to your computer and take it anywhere you want?

Why not take a few minutes and check out our in-depth article that will show you how you can get all the best music offline.

Download from YouTube in Mp3 Format

The easiest, cheapest, and safest way to download music on to your local computer hard drive is by using a video to mp3 converter.

You can simply log on to YouTube and find your favorite song no matter how new it is. Next, copy the URL to the converter tool site. Within a few seconds, you have a good quality copy of the song on your device.

This is the safest way to download music. However, it does come with some conditions. Copyright laws are applied differently according to location. Be sure to check that you are not breaking these laws before you download any files.

Music Streaming Services

If you want to be sure that you will not be breaking the law when you listen to music offline, then you may want to choose a mainstream music-streaming company.

Spotify, Tidal, and Google Music are all examples of music providers that provide an offline service.

Each offers a different pricing structure and conditions as to what and how much content you can download. Some, such as Spotify will offer podcasts in addition to music.

If your internet access is very unstable you can download music and use the app in offline mode for an extended amount of time. For instance, Spotify will allow you to listen to offline music continually for up to 30 days without connecting to the internet.

The monthly connection is simply to validate that your account allows you to listen to music offline.

Free Music Sites

If you want to listen to a genre of music and not a particular mainstream artist, then there are a number of free music sites that you can listen to and download music from.

While they may not host the most famous artists in the world, they do have a large range of quality music for your listening pleasure.

An example of a free music site is SoundCloud. It hosts over 200 million tracks across many genres. There are simple instructions included on the site about how to download the tracks for various types of usage.

Live Music Sites

You may know the internet archive site archive.org as a repository of older materials such as books whose copyright has expired. If you are interested in finding live musical recordings of older artists you can find a significant amount of material here and download it to listen to offline.

In recent times, artists have uploaded other more modern copyright-free musical material to this site. It is not for everyone but worth checking out for vintage material

Online Radio Stations

Following the same route as Spotify, Pandora radio offers the opportunity for paid subscribers to download music.

Pandora is traditionally a radio music station. This means that it will recommend the music that you listen to rather than allowing you to choose each track.

There are some limitations to the Pandora platform. First, you can only download if you are a paid subscriber. The monthly cost is not so high, however, it is not free.

The second condition is that you can only use the service in the USA. In fact, anyone from outside the USA will be recognized by their IP address and blocked.

Torrent Downloading

Many people will vouch for the fact that Torrent downloading is a great way to access a large amount of music and movie files for free. In fact millions of files are shared over Torrent technology every day. Sounds like a great solution? You may want to think again.

Despite its popularity, there are serious concerns over the safety of Torrent Downloading.

Copyright Issues

Many people use Torrent sharing to distribute pirated movies, music, and other media. Since this is not a new technology, ISPs are aware of this and in many countries will take action if they feel that you are participating in it.

This may initially be in the form of letters of warning. However, in time it may progress to internet speed reductions. They may even give your record and contact details to the authorities.

Security Concerns

When you acquire files from a Torrent source, you are essentially receiving files from a person and a location that you do not know. This could lead to your downloading malware.

Torrent site owners do provide some assurances regarding the fidelity and safety of the files that you receive. However, essentially you do not know that you can trust the person you are receiving them from. It is better to stick to sources of files that you know and trust.

How to Download Music to Your Computer and Much More

With more music providers available online than ever before, you have every opportunity to listen to your favorite tunes whenever you want. However, sometimes this needs to be offline. You now know how to download music to your computer and take it with you wherever you want to go.

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