Listen to music with a compact and lightweight MP3 player still popular for doing exercise and running. This post will learn how to put music on an MP3 player from Spotify legally for free. We will take 2 steps to do the task. Firstly, we need to get MP3 format music files from Spotify on your computer. Secondly, transfer those MP3 files to your MP3 player.
Sounds simple, right?
So, how can I download MP3 from Spotify?
First, we need to understand that Spotify is a “closed system” to make sure all artists get paid by counting each song’s plays. Whether you are free or subscribe Spotify user, you are only allowing you to access 30 million songs in Spotify and downloading and playing tracks offline with the Spotify apps. But you can’t download MP3 from Spotify in both technique and law aspects.
If you want to download songs as mp3 files to transfer to your MP3 player, you will need to buy those tracks from other music stores like iTunes. Spotify doesn’t offer those MP3 files. Spotify is a streaming music service different from traditional online music, which sold music in digital form.
Do you mean we should give up downloading mp3 from Spotify music?
No, I want to clarify we can’t get MP3 from the Spotify server directly. That is impossible. But, we have a workaround to download Spotify music.
We have 2 methods to convert Spotify to MP3 files.
Download Spotify to MP3 with recording software
Let’s talk about the recording method first. The best part of this method is that you will get the original sound from Spotify music. The software records the same music from the sound card of your computer. Here I recommend a Spotify recorder app called Cinch audio recorder. Please follow me with simple steps to record Spotify as mp3:
- Download and install the Cinch Audio recorder (Cost $25, but you can get it free here)
- Launch the app from the desktop icon by double click it.
- Get ready to record music if you click the yellow recording button at the upper left.
- Choose a song or playlist in Spotify and play it.
The recorder is now recording the music that you are playing. You could see the moving waving on the upper center that indicated the app had detected the sound (music) from your computer.
When a song recording is finished, it will show up on the list with ID3 tags (title, artist, etc.), and you could find the location of the song by right-clicking the song title and choose “open in the folder.” You will see the song in the opened folder.
Now you can transfer recorded songs to an MP3 player. It is straightforward to get it done. So you have an idea of recording Spotify music. in fact, you could record any music that can be played on your computer. Now, it is time to have a loaded music player and enjoy it anywhere and anytime.
How to convert Amazon Prime/unlimited music to MP3
Is it legal to record Spotify music?
As far as I know, it is legal to record online for personal use in Sweden. You need to check your local law about recording music.
Spotify recorder Alternatives
If the Cinch audio recorder is not working on your computer, Spytify will be a good and free alternative to it. It is designed to record music from Spotify and other streaming music services like Amazon prime music and has a Windows version only.
Download Spotify to mp3 online from other music sources
This method is that the app will get the song title from a Spotify playlist and search and download it from YouTube or other music sources. If you don’t like recording Spotify music to MP3, this method is for you.
The advantage of this method is that you could download thousands of songs much quicker than the recording method, in which you have to wait for the whole processing of playing music. However, this method’s downside is that the download music might have a different version or lower quality than the original music.
I will show what’s the software and how to use it to download music from Spotify.
ALLTOMP3
It is a great online Spotify downloader app supporting the main operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. The app is totally free, and you could download it here. And it is pretty easy to use it:
- Download and install ALLTOMP3
- Copy and paste the Spotify playlist or song link into the search bar of the app.
- Press the “Enter” on your keyboard. The app will find music and download music for you.
The quality of downloaded songs is normally between 128-256 kbps. It is possible to choose either MP3 or WMA as an output format.
Note: don’t get over 100 songs in a Playlist.
Spotify downloader alternatives
There are a lot of paid Spotify downloads out there. If AllTOMP3 doesn’t work, you could choose one of them.
Sidify/Ondesoft/AudFree/DRmare/TunesKit Spotify Converter
Those Spotify converter applications have a similar interface and the same way to operate it. You can download Spotify music with one of them with 2 steps:
- Install and launch a Spotify converter
- Copy and paste a Spotify song or playlist URL into the search bar and click “Convert.”
The software should start to download the songs. Remember, the songs you downloaded are not from the Spotify server. They are from other music sources.
Summary
I have introduced two methods to download Spotify to mp3. The recording method is good for music quality. The other method will help you download music much faster. Check the full list of Spotify to MP3 converter reviews here. Let me know what is your favorite method to download Spotify music? please leave a comment below.