How to Add Music to iMovie from YouTube Music

Written By Robert Fabry Last updated: July 25, 2025

Adding background music to videos makes the video more unique and interesting to see. Want to add the perfect soundtrack to your iMovie project? Thankfully, iMovie supports you add your desired music and other sound effects to your project, so, if you find some special soundtrack from YouTube Music that isn't included in iMovie's built-in music library, here is how to add music to iMovie from YouTube. Follow our guide here to set the mood in your videos!

Contents Guide Part 1. Can you Add Music from YouTube to iMovie Project?Part 2. How to Download Music from YouTube to iMovie Project?Part 3. How to Add YouTube Music to iMovie Project?Part 4. Conclusion

Part 1. Can you Add Music from YouTube to iMovie Project?

Can you add music to iMovie from music streaming services, such as YouTube Music? While YouTube Music offers Premium subscribers a straightforward option to download music on local devices, the downloaded files are encrypted by DRM, which are limited to be opened with the YouTube Music app.

On the other hand, iMovie allows you to add AAC, AIFF, BWF, CAF, MP3, MP4, RF64, and WAV audio files to your project. But YouTube Music uses AAC and Opus codecs to deliver all audio. So, YouTube Music's DRM-protected AAC and Opus audio files cannot be added to your iMovie projects directly. Herein lies the challenge: how to add music to iMovie from YouTube with DRM-protected files?

To add music on iMovie from YouTube, the crux is to get DRM-free music. Our recommended method is to first convert YouTube Music songs or playlists to DRM-free files in iMovie-supported audio files and then import them to your video. It might seem complicated, but don't sweat it! The following part introduces the detailed steps to grab music with a safe and reliable YouTube Music downloader.

Part 2. How to Download Music from YouTube to iMovie Project?

How to add music to iMovie from YouTube? Here you can use third-party tools to help convert YouTube Music to iMovie-supported audio files without limitations. AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter for Mac and Windows is a powerful YouTube Music Converter and Downloader that can help you download songs from YouTube Music, decrypt YouTube Music DRM, and save them as audio files of MP3, M4A, AAC, and other iMovie-supported formats. Once the YouTube Music app keeps crashing, you can also play downloads on other music players for a better experience.

AMusicSoft proposes faster speed downloading for YouTube Music users. It converts YouTube Music tracks, albums, playlists, as well as other audio files with 35X faster speed. If you have multiple songs and personalized playlists on YouTube Music, AMusicSoft can also batch-download them within a few clicks! AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter keeps original audio quality and ID3 tags. For every new user, the tool offers a free trial for a month! How to add music to iMovie from YouTube? Now let’s use AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter to download music for your iMovie project.

Step 1. Download AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter on your computer.

Free Download Free Download

Step 2. Launch AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter after installing it. On the main interface, go to the integrated YouTube Music web player to log in. After that, you can browse and access the YouTube Music songs you desire to download for your iMovie project. Simply drag them to the "+" icon to add them to the conversion list in one go.

Convert YouTube Music

Step 3. Choose the output format and the output path, etc.

Convert YouTube Music To MP3

Step 4. When the settings are complete, hit the "Convert" icon to process the YouTube Music songs download right away. Just wait for a second as AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter will complete the conversion for you with high efficiency.

Download YouTube Music To MP3

Part 3. How to Add YouTube Music to iMovie Project?

Now that you got unencrypted YouTube Music tracks already, it's time to add music to your iMovie projects. Here's how to add music to iMovie from YouTube:

Add Music to iMovie from YouTube on iPhone/iPad

Step 1. Move music to your iPhone, iPad, iCloud Drive, or another location on your device.

Step 2. Open iMovie on your iPhone/iPad and create a new project or open an existing project.

Step 3. Tap the plus icon button on the top left of your Timeline. Select Files > Browse. Then you can choose the folder/location where your song is. Find and select the song you want to add.

Add YouTube Music To iMovie

Step 4. After adding the music, you can arrange the length of the music by trimming it. You can also adjust the volume of the music by using audio controls in the toolbar or simply just holding the wavelength of the music track. Also, you can fade in the music or fade it out by using the Fade Handle to give a smooth finish to your iMovie project’s music score.

Step 5. Once everything is done, double-check your iMovie project and make sure the music fits well with your video. After that, click on the share option in the top right corner and select 'File.' You can name it and save it on your device. And that’s it! Now you know how to add music to iMovie from YouTube using an iOS device.

Add Music to iMovie from YouTube on Mac

Step 1. To add music to your iMovie projects on Mac, launch the iMovie app on your Mac. Open an existing project or create a new one.

Step 2. With your project open, click Audio at the top of the window, click Music in the Libraries list, then browse your music. Drag and drop the music track onto your project timeline.

Step 3. Now you can start editing your video! You can get creative by lining up the audio files with your video elements, adjusting the stop/start times for the music, fading in and out, and so much more.

Add Music To iMovie

Part 4. Conclusion

How to add music to iMovie from YouTube Music? You must have mastered the above steps to add your favorite tunes to iMovie. As the songs and playlists on YouTube Music are encrypted, it would fail to add some YouTube Music songs without removing DRM. In this case, you can turn to AMusicSoft YouTube Music Converter to help as it supports downloading your whole music library in DRM-free format. We hope that with this tutorial, you will able to download the music you want from YouTube and incorporate it into your beautiful iMovie video.

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