How to convert MP4 to MP3 online
- Pick the MP3 quality. 192 kbps is right for most music and speech.
- Drop your MP4 onto the converter or click to choose it.
- Wait while the audio is extracted. The progress bar shows how far along it is.
- Play the result to check it, then press Download MP3.
How MP4 audio becomes an MP3
An MP4 is a container: it holds a video track, one or more audio tracks and sometimes subtitles. The converter opens the container, ignores the video, decodes the audio track (normally AAC) and encodes it again as MP3. Because only the sound is processed, a long video converts much faster than it would take to re-encode the picture.
Good reasons to turn an MP4 into an MP3
- Your own performances: keep the audio of a live set, a rehearsal or a phone recording of a new song idea.
- Lessons and interviews: listen on the go, or send the MP3 to a transcription tool.
- Smaller files: a ten-minute MP3 at 192 kbps is about 14 MB, a fraction of the video.
- Music production: drop the audio into your DAW to sample your own footage, remix a performance or study an arrangement.
Choosing the right bitrate
Bitrate controls the size and the detail of the MP3. 128 kbps is fine for speech and keeps files small. 192 kbps is the sweet spot for music. 320 kbps keeps the most detail and is worth it for well-recorded music you plan to edit. A higher bitrate cannot add quality that the original video did not have.
Have a MOV from an iPhone?
iPhones and QuickTime save MOV files. They work here too, and there is a dedicated MOV to MP3 converter page with tips for iPhone videos.
What to do with the MP3 next
Measure its tempo and key with the BPM & Key Finder, make a slowed and reverb version, or turn it back into a shareable video with a music visualizer. If it is your own song, AIMusicVideoGen turns it and one photo of the singer into a lip-synced music video cut to the beat.