MP3 Rocket’s Creative Commons filtering lets you download and convert legally available music from YouTube while screening out potentially copyrighted material. It can convert YouTube downloads into MP3s and similar formats that can play on nearly any device. While this freeware worked well, the Creative Commons filtering sometimes excluded non-copyrighted material because it hadn’t been designated as such. A toolbar we tried but failed to decline spoiled the overall experience, too.

PROS

Win-win:

Musicians and record companies have posted a lot of really good music under Creative Commons licensing, and they’d be thrilled if you’d download it. It’s marketing, and everybody wins.

Misses are hits:

Even when we didn’t find certain artists or recordings, our searches of legally available downloads never failed to find something interesting.

Ringtones:

A new feature in MP3 Rocket converts any downloaded tune into a ringtone.

CONS

Missed the mark:

The optional Creative Commons filtering excluded useful results, such as tunes dubbed from non-digital sources like LPs and tapes. We failed to find any copyrighted material with the filtering turned off, though it’s certainly out there.

Unwanted toolbar:

Despite a checkbox option, one of the “extra” downloads could not be declined. Such extras pay the bills, but software that installs other software in spite of your choice is a nonstarter for many users.

Sound quality:

Music downloaded from YouTube and converted to MP3s ranges in quality from good enough to not bad, but don’t expect high fidelity.

BOTTOM LINE

MP3 Rocket can find, download, and convert a lot of interesting free music from YouTube. You may not find what you were looking for, but at least it won’t be copyrighted!