MP4 video has become the norm in the video world these days. Video shared over mobile telephones and even those downloaded from the Internet are mostly in the MP4 format.

Movies, documentaries and training videos are, more often than not, in the popular, universal MP4 format.

MP4 is supported in hardware devices like HDTV, media players like iPod and also Smartphones.

MP4 is here to stay, but there will be instances when you don't really need the video in the MP4 file, but the audio.

This happens, for instance, when you have a music video but want just the music. You may want to listen to it on your portable media player or your smartphone or your car audio player.

While MP4 has its own audio format namely .m4a, it's not a universal format playable in most software or hardware media players.

So, the best way to extract an audio file from an MP4 file and make it playable almost anywhere is to convert it to MP3.

The main advantage of MP3 is that it comes with a small file size. Usually an audio file with a small file size denotes low quality audio.

But not in the case of MP3 which although compressed in a lossy manner doesn't exhibit any noticeable quality loss.

When it comes to regular listening of audio files and music, MP3 is the format of choice.

So, how do you convert MP4 to MP3 quickly and easily and for free, especially if you don’t want to fork out cash for a video converter.

Could Windows Media Player Do the Job?

You may have heard that Windows Media Player could convert MP4 into MP3. You may also have come across tutorials which purport to show you how to go about it.

Here’s the truth. Windows Media Player doesn’t support the conversion of MP4 to MP3. Those tutorials you see over the Internet are misleading. They show you how to import the MP4 file into Windows Media Player and even the steps to save it to MP3 but avoid showing you the successfully-converted MP3.

Fret not if you’re a looking for a solution. Here’s how to convert MP4 to MP3 with a Windows Media Player alternative, namely the free VLC Media Player If you don’t already have it, do a Google search for it and download it.

Here are the steps to convert an MP4 file to MP3 with VLC Media player

On Launching VLC Media Player choose Convert/Save from the  Media Menu.

When the Convert/Save window opens, click on Add to import your MP4 file. Once done, click on Convert/Save

In the Convert window choose Audio MP3 as your profile. Then choose the directory you wish to save your converted MP3 file to by clicking on Browse. Once done, hit the Start button

A moving blue line indicates that conversion is in progress .

Once the process is completed, browse to the directory you have chosen to locate your MP3 file. Play it back in a media player to check whether the conversion has gone well.

Convert MP4 to MP3 with DVDFab Video Converter

While it’s possible to convert MP4 to MP3 with VLC, it’s essentially a media Player which doesn’t allow you much customization when it comes to your converted MP3 file.

If you would like to avail yourself of additional settings for your MP3 file, especially in terms of quality, you could opt for the DVDFab Video Converter. .

It’s a versatile AV converter that allows you to convert popular video formats to other mainstream formats and works stably when you’re converting large media files.

Here’s how you convert MP4 to MP3 with a Windows Media Player Alternative that’s fast and reliable.

DVDFab Video Converter is available for a free trial of 30 days if you desire converting your MP4 files to MP3 without a hitch.

MP4 to MP3 Conversion Process: Step by Step

Launch DVDFab Video Converter

Your first step would be to load your MP4 file. Do this by clicking on the + button in the middle of the program interface.

Next you would want to set your output format. Click on the arrow below the DVDFab logo and choose MP3 as your preferred format.

Done with that, you would want to set the directory where your converted MP3 file will be stored.

Do this by clicking on the folder icon towards the bottom of DVDFab Video Converter.

Before you hit the start button to convert, you may wish to preview your MP4 clip to ensure you'll be converting the right one. Press the play button.

Your MP4 clip is previewed.

You may also wish to add advanced settings to get the quality you desire for your MP3 file.

If you’re satisfied with your settings, go ahead and hit the Start button. Conversion takes place speedily.

To ensure your MP4 file has been converted to MP3 without a hitch, go ahead and play it in your media player.

Download DVDFab Video Converter  today and use it to convert MP4 to MP3 as a Windows Media Player alternative.

Confidently convert your MP4 files to MP3, following the simple steps above.  You’ll be satisfied with the results.