Record Music - The Best Tools
You don't necessarily have to buy music, recording radio streams is legal and technically no longer a problem. We present you the best tools here.
Record music - is that legal?
If you record radio streams for personal use, it is legal. However, you may not distribute the recordings, for example upload them freely on the Internet. The recording of obviously illegal material is also not permitted.
Record music with Windows tools
In Windows you can record music without additional tools:
- Go to the speaker icon in the system tray. Right-clicking opens a context menu in which you can select "Recording devices".
- In the "Sound" window, select the "Stereomix" recording device from the list. If it is not visible, you have to select the item "Show deactivated devices".
- Then click on "Properties". Select "Use device (activate)" here and confirm your selection by clicking "Apply".
- Now open the Windows audio recorder. It has been on board as standard since Windows XP. The fastest way to find it is to use the Windows search function.
- By clicking on "start recording" you can record current streams directly. When you stop recording, you will automatically be asked for the desired storage location.
- Your recording is saved in Windows Media Audio Format, under Windows XP as .wav. If you want to convert it to another format, you can use the Free Mp3 Wma Converter, for example.
- Note: Since this is how you record everything you hear on your sound card, you should issue disturbing system sounds beforehand.
Record music with Winamp and Streamripper
With the Streamripper you can also record streams and save them directly as Mp3.
- You can run the Streamripper as a plug-in via Winamp or separately. After executing the installation file, you can choose whether you want to install the Winamp plug-in, the standalone version ("Console Application") or both.
- It is operated using the "Start" and "Stop" buttons.
- With a click on "Options" you can make presets, for example set the desired storage location.
- Advantage: The Streamripper recognizes individual tracks and can separate them directly. To do this, select "Rip to separate files" in the options.
If you want to crop the recordings, you can do it with Audacity or one of five free Audacity alternatives.