youtube-dl does not remove .m4a file when --add-metadata is invoked

[peteyreplies]

I have been using youtube-dl to rip audio from youtube channels I like. I noticed what I am assuming to be a bug, however, when I tried to add metadata to improve my ID3 tags.

Simply put, when I run:

youtube-dl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE -itw --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0

The original m4a file is deleted when the conversion to mp3 is complete.

However, when I run:

youtube-dl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE -itw --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --add-metadata

it is not deleted when the conversion is complete.

[peteyreplies]

As requested, here is the output of both with the --verbose flag added:

Without --add-metadata:

youtube-dl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE -itw --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --verbose [debug] System config: [] [debug] User config: [] [debug] Command-line args: ['http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE', '-itw', '--extract-audio', '--audio-format', 'mp3', '--audio-quality', '0', '--verbose'] [debug] Encodings: locale 'UTF-8', fs 'utf-8', out 'UTF-8', pref: 'UTF-8' [debug] youtube-dl version 2014.02.13 [debug] Python version 2.7.3 - Darwin-12.4.0-x86_64-i386-32bit [debug] Proxy map: {} [youtube] Setting language [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Downloading webpage [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Extracting video information [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Encrypted signatures detected. [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 22, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 43, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 18, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 5, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 36, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 17, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 136, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 135, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 134, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 133, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 160, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 140, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 87 (43.43), itag 171, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 136, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 135, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 134, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 133, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 160, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 140, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 171, html5 player vfliqjKfF [ffmpeg] Destination: Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.mp3 [debug] ffmpeg command line: ffmpeg -y -i 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.m4a' -vn -acodec libmp3lame -aq 0 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.mp3' Deleting original file Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.m4a (pass -k to keep)

With --add-metada:

Freya:lbm2 chris$ youtube-dl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE -itw --extract-audio --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 --add-metadata --verbose [debug] System config: [] [debug] User config: [] [debug] Command-line args: ['http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ZL5EP7FTE', '-itw', '--extract-audio', '--audio-format', 'mp3', '--audio-quality', '0', '--add-metadata', '--verbose'] [debug] Encodings: locale 'UTF-8', fs 'utf-8', out 'UTF-8', pref: 'UTF-8' [debug] youtube-dl version 2014.02.13 [debug] Python version 2.7.3 - Darwin-12.4.0-x86_64-i386-32bit [debug] Proxy map: {} [youtube] Setting language [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Downloading webpage [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Downloading video info webpage [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Extracting video information [youtube] P7ZL5EP7FTE: Encrypted signatures detected. [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 22, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 43, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 18, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 5, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 36, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 17, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 136, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 135, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 134, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 133, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 160, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 140, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 84 (41.42), itag 171, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 136, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 135, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 134, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 133, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 160, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 140, html5 player vfliqjKfF [youtube] encrypted signature length 89 (43.45), itag 171, html5 player vfliqjKfF [ffmpeg] Adding metadata to 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.m4a' [debug] ffmpeg command line: ffmpeg -y -i 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.m4a' -c copy -metadata date=20130722 -metadata 'artist=La Belle Musique' -metadata 'title=Robin Schulz - Willst Du' 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.temp.m4a' [ffmpeg] Destination: Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.mp3 [debug] ffmpeg command line: ffmpeg -y -i 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.m4a' -vn -acodec libmp3lame -aq 0 'Robin Schulz - Willst Du-P7ZL5EP7FTE.mp3'

As you can see, the "delete" command is never issued.

In practice, I can solve this trivially myself by adding "rm *.m4a" to my script, but I thought I'd surface it anyway.

Thanks for making such a super useful tool!

[jaimeMF]

Thanks for detailed report!, you're right, the m4a file should be removed . There's already an open issue: #2261, so I'm closing this one (you can subscribe to the other issue to get the updates).

[peteyreplies]

Thanks Jaime!