Frequently Asked Questions

Your file is too large for the limit on your current plan — this can be increased by upgrading. The default limit should be enough for most single MP3s.

If you need to upload a really long MP3 (like a mix), try re-encoding it at a lower bitrate (e.g. 320 → 128kbps) to reduce the file size. Alternatively, split the MP3 into parts and upload them separately — mp3splt works well for this.

Make sure you're not trying to upload a shortcut. The minimum file size is 1kb, so if the file is genuinely an MP3 or an image, you shouldn't see this error.

On Android, use the 'Select Music Track' option. If that doesn't work, try a different file manager, such as ASTRO File Manager.

Check that the file is an MP3 (.mp3) or image (.jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .png), and that you're not uploading a shortcut. On Android, don't use the 'Audio' shortcut to upload — go into 'Files' instead.

FFMPEG, the software this site uses to build your video, does not support sample rates below roughly 16,000Hz.

Re-encode your MP3 at a higher sample rate (44,100Hz is best) using Audacity (a free, open-source audio editor):

• Start Audacity and open the MP3 you need to re-encode (File → Open).
• Set the 'Project Rate (Hz)' in the bottom-left corner to 44100
• File → Export, then choose 'MP3' as the export type.
• Click 'Options' and select a bitrate — 320kbps gives the best quality (and the largest file).
• Click 'Save'.

If this is your first MP3 export in Audacity, you'll be prompted to install the LAME encoder:

• Download it from lame1.buanzo.com.ar.
• Under "For Audacity on Windows", left-click "Lame v3.99.3 for Windows.exe" and save it — don't right-click to save.
• Run the installer (you can ignore any "publisher could not be verified" warning) and keep the default install location.
• The first time you export as MP3, Audacity will ask for the location of "lame_enc.dll" — point it to the folder you just installed to.

You've hit YouTube's limit on uploads within a 24 hour period, either through TunesToTube or directly through YouTube. These limits aren't officially documented and change from time to time.

You may need to wait 24 hours for YouTube to reset your quota. It's widely believed unverified accounts get around 10 uploads a day and verified accounts around 30, though some accounts have special arrangements with YouTube that raise this further.

To verify your account, visit youtube.com/verify.

New YouTube accounts are limited to videos of 15 minutes or less. To upload longer videos, verify your account — see the steps here or go to youtube.com/verify.

This varies with video length and how busy YouTube's servers are. Straight from YouTube's own support pages:

"An uploaded video will immediately be visible in an authenticated user's uploaded videos feed. However, the video will not be visible on YouTube until it has been processed and indexed. The length of time between when the video is uploaded and when the video is publicly visible on YouTube varies. However, videos are usually indexed within one day and may be indexed in several hours or even less than an hour."

This happens when YouTube is just about to finish processing the video. Wait a few seconds, refresh the page, and it should load normally.

You'll have been given a link once the upload completed — if you didn't save it, you can see all of your videos at youtube.com/my_videos. Make sure you're signed in to the same YouTube account you used with TunesToTube.

You can manage and edit all of your uploaded videos at youtube.com/my_videos.

YouTube sometimes fails to play the last few seconds of a video. To combat this, every video (except Shorts) automatically gets 2 seconds of silence added to the end — the idea being that YouTube trims the silence rather than your actual audio.

If you upgrade, you can adjust this on the settings page — set it to however many seconds are being cut off (0–180).

Yes — upgrade to remove the watermark, plus unlock these extra features:

Upload an image that's exactly the same size as the selected video resolution (1280x720 by default). If you've upgraded, edit your image in Photoshop (or similar) so the background colour matches the area around the main image. If you haven't upgraded, make your background black, since the watermark is framed in a black border.

You can upload a GIF, but the video won't be animated — only the first frame is used, repeated for the full length. That's also why encoding is so fast: no full video needs to be rendered. For a genuinely animated video, use software like Adobe Premiere Pro.

If you've upgraded and have a SoundCloud account, you can connect it to TunesToTube so your MP3 is sent to SoundCloud at the same time your video is uploaded to YouTube.

Once connected, you'll see a 'Send to SoundCloud' checkbox on the upload page. You can also transfer MP3 files directly from SoundCloud into the upload queue.

Yes — both accounts need to be upgraded. To link Account B to Account A:

• Sign in to YouTube using Account A.
• Go to youtube.com/account_advanced and copy the Channel ID.
• Sign in to TunesToTube using Account B.
• Go to link.php.
• Paste the Channel ID into 'Grant Permission To' and click 'Submit'.

Log out and back in as Account A, and you'll see Account B's channel in the 'Additional Accounts' drop-down. You can link accounts the other way round too, or grant permission to more than one channel.

There's usually no need to, but if you want to revoke access, go to youtube.com/account_sharing and click "Authorised sites to your Brand Account".

Sorry, TunesToTube can't download MP3s from YouTube — only upload them :‑)