Eliezer from Vadodara, India. writes “Hi. I saw some videos of some VERY old songs of Indian movies (from 1948 to 1952) on You Tube. These are Collector’s Items. I’m not going to get these songs anywhere. I wouldn’t mind paying for them but as mentioned earlier, these are Collector’s Items. So I downloaded YTD Downloader to download these songs. But each time I tried, the download failed. I read the FAQs of YTD Downloader. As mentioned in the FAQs, I thought there might be some problem with YTD Downloader so I uninstalled it and downloaded it again from download.com and reinstalled it. But the problem didn’t solve. So I again uninstalled it and downloaded it from the site if YTD Downloder.com. But unluckily the same problem persisted. Then I thought of Real Player and downloaded it so that I can use the Real Player Downloader. I tried again with that but that too failed. There was a message that the download was incomplete. I asked some people about the same but didn’t get any help (whatever suggestions I got I wasn’t sure of so I didn’t try). So here I’m asking your help. But, please, let it be simple enough so that I can use it, as I don’t know the ABC of computers. Thank you.”
Hi, Eliezer. Thanks for the great question!
Let me start by telling you how I stumbled across this solution. My favorite Blue Oyster Cult work is the concept album Imaginos. Just after the album came out, I heard the title song on the radio with an introduction by Stephen King. From everything that I could see, this was only on the radio edit. I spent the next twenty-five years trying to find a way to get my hands on this vocal introduction with no success until last year. I could find it on Youtube and listen to it, but not own it. Then I found this solution.
I use Firefox as my web browser. They have a great add-on called Video Download Helper. I typically use this to download videos from the internet that I want to keep. If you don’t have the VDH add-on, here is how to add it to your Firefox. First, open your browser and then click on the MENU icon in the upper-right corner.
From there, click on ADD-ONS.
Once it’s open, Download Helper can be found under EXTENSIONS. Once you download and install the add-on, you will be prompted to restart Firefox for the change to take effect.
One important note, when I downloaded Mr. King’s introduction to Imaginos, the ability to convert a file to mp3 format was included with the free Download Helper. Now, in order to use it, you have to get the registered version for $28.50 USD or 18.50 Euros.
Once you have this ability, find the song that you want to download and play it on Youtube. Once the playback starts, click on the Download Helper icon, which looks like a red, blue and yellow ball rotating in your Firefox toolbar, and then click the plus sign next to the title.
This will open up a series of options for you, including DOWNLOAD AND CONVERT.
Clicking on this will give you your options for conversion, including mp3 and HQ mp3.
Choose the format that you want and and the file that you want to download it to, click OK and you’re good to go.
Alternately, if you just want to use the free version, simply use it to download the file in some video format, and then you can use your computer to play it back whenever you want.
Do remember though, that when you are dealing with copyrighted material, so making copies to sell or even give away is not allowed.
I hope that this helps!
~ Randal Schaffer