How to Record Streaming Audio as an MP3 File Using Audacity

Disclaimer: Always read the copyright policies of the content provider and ensure that you are not violating copyright laws by downloading proprietary audio streams.

1.     If you have not done so already, download Audacity and a LAME MP3 encoder from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ .  Follow standard installation procedures.

2.     Start Audacity and go to View > Float Mixer Toolbar.  In the drop-down menu on Audacity’s mixer toolbar, choose “Wave Out” or “Stereo Mix” as the input source.

3.     Go to the website hosting the audio stream you wish to record and play the file through your preferred media player (RealOne, Windows Media, Quicktime, etc.).  As the player begins to buffer the audio content, hit the Record button on Audacity.

4.     To stop recording, click the Stop button, marked with a yellow square.  To save this audio file in Audacity’s proprietary format (.aup), go to File > Save Project As .  Choose a location for the new file in the “Save In” drop-down menu and give your file a name in the File Name field, then click the Save button.  In this format you can edit your audio file using Audacity, but you will not be able to open it using other programs. 

To save the recorded audio file in a format you can use with your media player, go to File > Export as WAV or File > Export as MP3.  For uploading onto your Blackboard page, the MP3 format is recommended, since it is more compressed and can be played through any media player.