YouTube has never been more friendly to those searching for new music. If you love browsing YouTube for the latest music and putting together YouTube playlists of songs that you love, there are a number of online converters that will let you convert them to MP3s.

Before moving ahead, it should be noted that ripping audio from YouTube is a breach of YouTube’s terms of use, which could potentially get you in trouble. There are ways to access music from YouTube without breaking the rules, such as Google’s new YouTube Music service that will likely replace Google Play Music at some point — so we recommend you consider legitimate options first.

Audio ripping sites have a reputation for not always delivering quality MP3 tracks or even becoming riddled with malware and phishing threats over time. YouTube to Mp3 seems to be different from the norm though. This is a site we’ve tested on a monthly basis, and so far it has consistently delivered good-quality audio and has been safe, fast, and easy to use. All you have to do is copy and paste the link from your desired YouTube video into the text box and hit Go. YouTube to MP3 will handle the rest.

Note: This site does have pop-up ads (including an odd one that looks like a Terms of Use page), but they appear to be harmless. Just exit them and go about your business.

When it comes to ripping audio from YouTube videos, you’re actually not limited to just dodgy ripper sites. There are safe desktop software options as well. Take, for instance, 4K YouTube to MP3. This software actually works like an audio ripping site: All you have to is copy and paste your desired YouTube video’s link, and 4K YouTube to Mp3 will handle the conversion. In addition, you can do more with 4K YouTube to MP3 than just downloading single tracks, since it allows you to download full YouTube playlists as well.

Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu devices support this tool, and you can download it at no extra cost.

Y2Mate is on par with the majority of tools we’ve mentioned thus far in that it is a user-friendly paste-and-go feature that you access online without the hassle of software installation.

One drawback of Y2Mate is the number of pop-up ads on the tool. These can be a nuisance at best and can cause concerns about viruses at worst. You should be safe when using Y2Mate regardless of the pop-ups if you don’t click on any of them, especially if your system has malware to safeguard against cyber threats. That way, you can make sure that the sites you’re visiting and the files you’re downloading aren’t going to cause you any problems.