Flvto YouTube To Mp3 Converter

Today I talked with the folks at FLVTO concerning their plug in that rips audio from YouTube videos, straight to your computer, so you can add the audio to your iTunes or mp3 library, or do whatever you want to with it.

Honestly, at first I was a little upset.

Being a musician, this seems to me to be a slap in the face. Allowing anyone and everyone to steal your music from YouTube, giving the artist nothing for the time, effort, and money they spent to create the audio.
Then I realized I have used this very same type of plugin myself.

Give the interview a read, and let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment. Is this stealing from music creators, or is this a tool that could help music creators??

Tony Coke: Flvto makes a plugin that converts youtube videos to mp3 correct? What are some of the ways people could use this software? To take songs from YouTube and add to their mp3 library?

FLVTO: We provide our users with a wide range of choices depending on their preferences. Those who feel more comfortable with online converters we offer browser extensions for Safari, Firefox, IE and Chrome. Also, there’s an old-school method of copy-pasting video links into the conversion field on Flvto website. Those are great if you want quick and quality conversion on the go. However, if you are looking for an enhanced experience our free desktop apps for Windows and Mac are always here for you. They allow simultaneous downloads by batch (up to 99 files at a time), faster speed and HD quality.
Yes, the main function of a tool is taking songs from YouTube and adding them to your mp3 music collection. But you also can make use of MP4, AVI, FLV, MOV, WMV, WMA, AAC and more formats.

Tony Coke: How does the converter work and is it easy to use it?

FLVTO: It’s extremely easy to use. All you need to do is search for a YouTube video, copy its URL and paste into the conversion entry space. It will take you from a few seconds to a minute to get the converted file. The time varies depending on the video length and output format.

Tony Coke: Since Bands Rising has a large musician subscriber base, how can this type of service be utilized by artists, bands and musicians?

FLVTO: We are getting lots of feedbacks from musicians and DJs who come to YouTube to dig through unique tracks and sounds this video sharing platform is famous for. They are looking for a way to get those tunes and place them to a new beat. YouTube is indeed a great source of inspiration given the number of exclusive songs, home-shot masterpieces, mashups, bootlegs and remixes people upload for free share. With the due care and creativity to the source material, the end results can be overwhelming.

Tony Coke: Do you feel that this is taking profits away from musicians and creators, who invest tons of hours and money into recording their music, by allowing people to rip that work for free?

FLVTO: Flvto.com was created to spead the message of Internet communism to the masses. Our goal is not to take bread away from artists, but, on the opposite, provide those who promote their music through YouTube with extra opportunities. Once the song is converted, saved and thoroughly enjoyed, the user has extra incentives to buy the entire album and make donation to this particular artist.
Musicians who see their presence on YouTube as crucial, but who are not willing to share their music for free can simply block their videos from conversion by editing video’s privacy settings.

Tony Coke: On flvto.com it lists the top 100 most converted and downloaded mp3. That’s pretty cool, do those artists get anything for making the top 100 list?

FLVTO: The main idea of the top 100 list is the ability to track the most popular songs in your country. It’s being continuously updated depending on which YouTube videos are being most converted at the moment. This way, any YouTube user who uploads a video can get “15 minutes of fame” through top 100, attract new subscribers and fans. Flvto.com is 100% free service which operates solely on advertising. We neither pay out to artists, nor accept placement fees.

Tony Coke: So there you are. What do you think? A slap in the face to musicians, or a tool no one should be without?