musicdl-catalog-sync-suite/catalog-sync/docs/Install.md

Musicdl Installation

Environment Requirements

• Operating system: Linux, macOS, or Windows.
• Python version: Python 3.9+ with requirements in musicdl requirements.txt.

Installation Instructions

You have three installation methods to choose from,

# from pip
pip install musicdl
# from github repo method-1
pip install git+https://github.com/CharlesPikachu/musicdl.git@master
# from github repo method-2
git clone https://github.com/CharlesPikachu/musicdl.git
cd musicdl
python setup.py install

Some of the music downloaders supported by musicdl require additional CLI tools to function properly, mainly for decrypting encrypted search/download requests and audio files. These CLI tools include,

• FFmpeg: At the moment, only TIDALMusicClient and AppleMusicClient depends on FFmpeg for audio file decoding. If you don’t need to use TIDALMusicClient and AppleMusicClient when working with musicdl, you don’t need to install FFmpeg. After installing it, you should run the following command in a terminal (Command Prompt / PowerShell on Windows, Terminal on macOS/Linux) to check whether FFmpeg is on your system PATH:

  ffmpeg -version
  

  If FFmpeg is installed correctly and on your PATH, this command will print the FFmpeg version information (e.g., a few lines starting with ffmpeg version ...). If you see an error like command not found or 'ffmpeg' is not recognized as an internal or external command, then FFmpeg is either not installed or not added to your PATH.

• Node.js: Currently, only YouTubeMusicClient in musicdl depends on Node.js, so if you don’t need YouTubeMusicClient, you don’t have to install Node.js. Similar to FFmpeg, after installing Node.js, you should run the following command to check whether Node.js is on your system PATH:

  node -v (npm -v)
  

  If Node.js is installed correctly, node -v will print the Node.js version (e.g., v22.11.0), and npm -v will print the npm version. If you see a similar command not found / not recognized error, Node.js is not installed correctly or not available on your PATH.

• N_m3u8DL-RE: N_m3u8DL-RE is a powerful open-source command-line tool for downloading, decrypting, and muxing HLS/DASH (m3u8/mpd) streaming media into local video files. In musicdl, this library is mainly used for handling TIDALMusicClient and AppleMusicClient audio streams, so if you don’t need TIDALMusicClient and AppleMusicClient support, you don’t need to install it. After installing N_m3u8DL-RE, you need to make sure all of its executables are available in your system PATH. A quick way to verify this is that you should be able to run

  python -c "import shutil; print(shutil.which('N_m3u8DL-RE'))"
  

  in Command Prompt and get the full path without an error.

• Bento4: Bento4 is an open-source C++ toolkit for reading, writing, inspecting, and packaging MP4 files and related multimedia formats. In musicdl, this library is mainly used for handling AppleMusicClient audio streams, so if you don’t need AppleMusicClient support, you don’t need to install it. After installing Bento4, you need to make sure all of its executables are available in your system PATH. A quick way to verify this is that you should be able to run

  python -c "import shutil; print(shutil.which('mp4decrypt'))"
  

  in Command Prompt and get the full path without an error.

• amdecrypt: amdecrypt is a command-line tool developed by AI that leverages Bento4's mp4decrypt to process Apple Music encrypted files into playable formats. You can obtain it from the GitHub Releases of this repository. After installing amdecrypt, you need to make sure all of its executables are available in your system PATH. A quick way to verify this is that you should be able to run

  python -c "import shutil; print(shutil.which('amdecrypt'))"
  

  in Command Prompt and get the full path without an error.