How to Split a YouTube Album into Tracks Using the Tracklist

A "full album" upload is one long stretch of audio with a tracklist in the description. Splitting it back into songs takes two things you probably already have: the audio file, and that list of timestamps. Paste the list, and every song is cut, named, numbered and tagged in one pass.

This guide walks through the whole job with our free audio splitter, from gathering the file to downloading a tagged album, plus what to do when the timestamps don't quite line up. One thing first: the splitter does not download anything from YouTube. It works on an audio file you bring, and only borrows the tracklist, which you copy and paste yourself.

Before you start

Two things to gather.

The audio file

The whole album as a single file. Save the audio from a source you have the rights to, such as your own upload, a purchase, or a release whose licence allows it. MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A/AAC, Ogg Vorbis and Opus all work, up to 450 MB per file. That is several hours of compressed audio: an hour of MP3 at 320 kbps is about 144 MB.

The tracklist

Open the video's description (expand it with "more") and look for lines that start or end with a time, like 3:52 Harbor Lights. If the description has none, check the pinned comment or the top comments: someone has often posted one. Copy the whole block, extra lines and all.

Step by step

From one file to a tagged album.

1. 01

   Open the splitter and upload

   Go to the YouTube album splitter and choose your audio file. A file over the 450 MB limit is refused as soon as you pick it, so you never wait on an upload that can't finish.

2. 02

   Paste the tracklist

   Tick "Paste timestamps as text", paste the block you copied into the box, and press Submit. Each line with a time becomes a track; the rest of the line becomes its title. You don't need to tidy anything first.

3. 03

   Check the cuts

   Every track now shows in the list and on the waveform. Use "Play from here" on a few of them, especially the first and last, and listen to whether each one starts on the downbeat. If a start is off, retype its time.

4. 04

   Add album info and cover art

   Open "Album info" and fill in the artist, album, year and genre; they are written into every track's tags along with its own title and track number. Add a cover image to embed it in each file.

5. 05

   Pick an output format

   "Keep original" is the default and keeps your source's format: an MP3 is cut without re-encoding, so nothing is lost. Or convert to MP3, AAC or Opus at 128 to 320 kbps, or to FLAC or WAV.

6. 06

   Split and download

   Press "Split & download". Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and cut on our server with FFmpeg. When it is done, take the whole album as one zip, or use the download button next to each track, which is easier on a phone. The zip also includes your tracklist as timestamps.txt and a .cue sheet for the original file.

What the paste box reads

Paste it messy.

Video descriptions are written for people, not parsers, so the paste box is forgiving. A description like this one pastes straight in:

Tracklist:
1. [00:00] Paper Lanterns
2. [03:52] Harbor Lights
3. [07:41] Slow Engine
• Northbound (Interlude) - 11:28
• Weather Vane | 13:05
18:47 - 23:10 Last Ferry Home
Stream the album: (link)

That becomes six tracks. Here is what happened to each kind of line:

• Times can sit at the start or the end of a line, bare or in [brackets] or (parentheses).
• Track numbers like 1., bullets, and the dash or pipe between time and title are removed from the title.
• A range such as 18:47 - 23:10 uses the first time; every track ends where the next one begins.
• Lines with no time, like "Tracklist:" or a link, are ignored.
• Times past the hour work as 1:02:30 or written in minutes, like 62:30.

Troubleshooting

When the list and the file disagree.

Every cut is a few seconds late or early

Your file and the video don't start at the same moment, often because the video has a short intro or your copy trims the silence at the start. Find the real start of track 2, work out the difference from its listed time, and shift each time by the same amount.

The list doesn't start at 0:00

The first track starts at the first time in the list. If there is music or an intro before it that you want to keep, add a 0:00 Intro line.

A compilation with many artists

If every line reads "Artist - Title", each track is tagged with its own artist, and the album artist from Album info is kept so players still group them. This only happens when every line has that shape; a single "Intro" without an artist leaves the dashes in the titles, so give that line an artist too.

There is no tracklist at all

If the songs have gaps between them, "Find tracks automatically" can place a cut in each silent gap, with sliders for how quiet and how long a gap must be. See splitting audio by silence. For a continuous mix, the DJ mix splitter lets you mark tracks by ear on the waveform.

The cover art didn't show up

Cover art is embedded in MP3, M4A and FLAC files, but not in Ogg or WAV. If your source is Opus or Ogg and you want artwork, choose MP3 or AAC as the output instead of "Keep original".

FAQ

Common questions.

Does the splitter download the video from YouTube?

No. It only splits an audio file you upload. The YouTube description is just where the tracklist comes from, and you copy that yourself.

Will the tracks sound worse than my file?

Not with "Keep original". MP3 and M4A audio is copied into each track without re-encoding. Quality only changes if you pick another format or add fades, which need re-encoding.

Is there a limit on the number of tracks?

No. It is free, needs no account, and cuts as many tracks as your list has. The one limit is the upload: one file of up to 450 MB.

What if I refresh the page halfway through?

Your timestamps, album info and cover art are saved in your browser's storage, so a refresh or a dropped connection doesn't lose them. Your audio file is deleted from our server once your downloads are ready.