I'm still one of these guys who listens to MP3 music on my phone. I build playlists especially when I train in the gym or do other sport based activities. I found a way to take songs from Youtube videos and to transfer this directly to my Android phone. I wish to share this with you, it might help somebody.
Desktop steps:
Step 1: Go in the Software Store and install Video Downloader. (This is a very cool app).
Step 2: Go to Youtube, locate the song that you want and cut and paste the URL. Download the MP3 song.
Step 3: To edit the song tags, go to the Download folder (or target folder), right click and open Rythmbox which is pre-installed on Zorin OS. Right click on the song and go to Properties. Under Basic, edit Title, Artist, etc.
Step 4: This can only be done with Google drive. You need to link your desktop to Google. Once you link your Google account, you can see in nautilus the your Google drive. Create a music folder in Google drive and transfer the music MP3 file in this folder.
Andoid phone:
Step 5: On your phone, Install an app called Drive Sync Pro. What it does is that is synchronizes your phone music folder with the Google drive music folder. When you add a new MP3 to your desktop Google drive, it will sync to your phone.
Last step: Open your phone music player, and the song is now on your phone. I use the Muzio Player on my Android phone, but you can use the app you want.
The first few songs were difficult at first but now, it is seamless and each step is performed quickly. Download, edit tags, drag & drop, synchronize, and enjoy!!
This is a bit murky ethically and legally. Yeah sure you can do all this and it is fine with the tools and process flow listed. But what you are advocating amounts to theft. Just because you can do something and get away with it does not make it legal or ethical. Anyway, it is what it is. Enjoy your downloads.
Hmmm, I haven't thought if it that way. It is not like I download thousands of songs and sell this in a large scale. I usually do under 10 to 15 a year, not much more. I've always had transfer issues and the process has always been complicated in the past. Now, it is easy.
If the moderators decide to take the post down, I have no issues and understand. It is just that for the first time, I have an easy process that actually works. Your comment is appreciated and puts things in another light.
Maybe we can rephrase this topic to be "how to transfer files between PC and phone" which is essentially the gist of it. If you bought your songs legally you are allowed to listen to them on whatever media you prefer.
There's this other thread on that where it may be included:
EDIT:
Also, you may be interested in installing NewPipe on your phone. You can access YouTube content directly but it has a feature to load only the audio. This saves a lot of bandwidth compared to loading the entire video and can be played even with the screen turned off.
A large number of artists create channels on YouTube and upload their own promotions.
While many users do upload content that is not their own, YouTube has increased scrutiny and enforcement of this. It will always be exploitable and it will always be exploited. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqECaJ8Gagnn7YCbPEzWH6g
I do not believe that the manner in which the O.P. worded his post promotes anything that requires moderation. @C141ZorinOS makes a valid point about being careful about sources and respecting creator content.
I do it this way:
On my cell phone, I've installed AntennaPod. I download podcast subscription episodes (mp3 format) automatically with AntennaPod.
AntennaPod also has a setting where you can set up a "manual" folder, anything you drop into that folder will be included to play in AntennaPod.
Because the cell phone's directory structure is shown on the computer when the phone is plugged into the computer via USB, I can easily play .mp3 files on the computer, or download .mp3 files to the computer and move them to that "manual" folder on the cell phone to be played in AntennaPod.
I like to use Syncthing to transfer files around my devices. It's capable of much more than that but I like to keep things simple, so I simply use it as such because it only needs to be setup once.
My legally purchased .ogg/.mp3 files downloaded to phone, I use KDE Connect.
This may not be ideal for you as file transfers go to a specific location on the PC, namely Downloads. Not sure if you can change this to Music, not really explored.
