How to Record Streaming Audio on Mac

Why Doesn't a Mac Record Streaming Audio Out of the Box?

macOS sends each app's sound to the selected output device, such as built-in speakers, AirPods, or USB headphones. Recording apps read from input devices, so Spotify or a browser tab never shows up as something they can record on their own. In macOS 14.2, Apple added a way for apps to capture the sound of one app, several apps, or everything except chosen apps, with your permission.

This is protected by a privacy permission. The first time an app captures another app's sound this way, macOS asks you to allow it to record system audio. In current macOS versions you can review that choice in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Screen & System Audio Recording, where an app can be allowed to record audio only. Apple's own recorders do not offer this: QuickTime Player's New Audio Recording and the Screenshot toolbar's Microphone menu list only input devices. Audacity and GarageBand also record from input devices, which is why a virtual audio device that appears as an input remains the simplest way to feed them.

Older virtual audio drivers like Soundflower were kernel extensions, which Apple has deprecated and which Apple silicon Macs only load after you lower the startup security; Soundflower has had no release since 2014. Current drivers such as LitLink and BlackHole install without that. A virtual audio driver adds a device that appears as both a speaker (output) and a microphone (input), so recording apps can capture everything the streaming service plays.

How Do You Record Streaming Audio on Mac with LitLink?

• Download and install LitLink free from litpads.app/litlink, about 8 MB, requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later
• Open LitLink and toggle System Audio Passthrough on everything your Mac plays now also reaches LitLink Audio Bridge
• Leave Mic Passthrough off it is off by default, so your voice stays out of the recording
• Open your streaming service and start playing the audio Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, internet radio, or any browser-based service
• Open the Recording page, choose Mixed, and press Record free; saves a WAV file to ~/Music/LitLink Recordings/
• Or record in another app select LitLink Audio Bridge as the input in QuickTime, Audacity, or OBS

Turning on System Audio Passthrough creates a multi-output device named after your output, for example "LitLink + AirPods Pro", and makes it the system output. Your headphones or speakers keep playing the stream in real time while LitLink Audio Bridge receives a copy for the recorder. No manual configuration in Audio MIDI Setup is required. Turn System Audio Passthrough on before you press Record: if no source is on, LitLink switches on both your microphone and system audio for that recording and turns them off again when you stop.

The copy is digital, not a microphone pointed at your speakers. LitLink runs at 48 kHz by default, and you can switch it to 44.1 or 96 kHz. LitLink's WAV recordings are 16-bit by default, with 24-bit and 32-bit float available in Settings. Notification sounds and other apps that play during the session are part of the system mix, which the next sections show how to avoid.

Which Streaming Services Can You Record From?

System Audio Passthrough does not care which app is playing: whatever plays through the default output is copied to LitLink Audio Bridge, and the recorder receives one clean stereo stream regardless of which app produced it. With per-app routing in LitLink Pro, a browser is treated as one source, so routing Chrome captures all of its tabs. To isolate one stream, play it in a separate browser and route only that browser.

Users who subscribe to lossless tiers benefit from recording into a lossless format. The recording is a copy of the decoded audio your Mac plays, so saving it as WAV, AIFF, or FLAC keeps everything the bridge receives for archival or further editing.

How Do You Record Audio from Only One Streaming App?

System Audio Passthrough in the free version of LitLink captures everything that plays on the Mac. Notification chimes, message alerts, and audio from other open applications all mix into the recording. Per-app routing in LitLink Pro solves this: open per-app routing, enable the streaming app you want to record, and assign it to a LitLink Track. Tracks are exclusive, so an app on a track does not leak into LitLink Audio Bridge, and each track has its own Record button that writes a WAV file to ~/Music/LitLink Recordings/. Other recorders can read the same audio from the input devices LitLink Track 1 through LitLink Track 8.

macOS asks you to allow LitLink to record system audio the first time you route an app. LitLink's request explains that it needs to capture audio from other apps for per-app audio routing. Per-app routing is especially valuable for long recording sessions. Internet radio archives, live DJ sets, and multi-hour playlist captures all benefit from isolating the streaming app's output, because a Slack notification or a FaceTime ringtone would otherwise end up in the middle of the recording.

LitLink Pro also adds per-app EQ, Audio Unit effects, and a per-app boost, and it can record several tracks at once. LitLink Pro costs $29 once or $3.99 per month, and the app includes a 7-day free trial. The per-app audio routing guide for Mac covers the routing setup in more detail.

Which Recording Format Should You Use for Streaming Audio?

Recording streaming audio in a lossless format preserves every detail of the audio your Mac plays. LitLink saves WAV files directly, and Audacity can open them and export to FLAC or MP3 when you need a smaller file. The internal audio recording guide covers additional details on format selection for different use cases.

FLAC is the best choice for long recording sessions where storage matters. A three-hour internet radio capture saved as 16-bit WAV at 48 kHz uses roughly 2 GB of disk space, and the same recording saved as FLAC is typically around half that size with zero quality loss. FLAC is lossless, so it decodes back to exactly the same audio, which makes it a good fit for archives.

MP3 remains practical for recordings where file size is the priority and the source material is already lossy. Recording a 128 kbps internet radio stream into WAV does not add quality that was never there. Saving it as 320 kbps MP3 produces a smaller file with negligible additional loss beyond what the original stream already introduced.

What Are the Legal Considerations for Recording Streaming Audio?

Some countries allow private copies of content you have a lawful right to access, and others do not, so check the rules where you live before recording. Even where a private copy is allowed, the recorded files should remain on your own devices and should not be shared, uploaded, or distributed in any form.

Streaming services set their own rules on top of copyright law. Spotify's User Guidelines list copying, ripping, and recording among the prohibited uses of its service. Apple Music, Tidal, and other platforms publish their own terms, so review the specific terms of your streaming service before recording.

DRM-protected audio streams present an additional consideration. LitLink does not decrypt or remove DRM. It only receives audio after the streaming app has decoded and played it, either through the system output or, in LitLink Pro, from the single app you route. Laws like the DMCA in the United States prohibit circumventing technical protection measures, so the copyright and terms of service rules above still apply to anything you record.

How Does LitLink Compare to Other Streaming Audio Recorders for Mac?

We make LitLink, so this section sticks to what each developer publishes; competitor facts were checked on November 5, 2026.

Sources: Audio Hijack, Audio Hijack pricing, Audio Hijack trial, BlackHole README, BlackHole Multi-Output Device guide.

LitLink gets you from installation to recording with one toggle. System Audio Passthrough sets up the multi-output device for monitoring and starts routing streaming audio to LitLink Audio Bridge, and the built-in recorder saves it without a second app. To hear audio while BlackHole carries it, its guide has you open Audio MIDI Setup, create a Multi-Output Device, select your devices with drift correction on (the built-in output must be the top device) and set it as your sound output, and then you record in a separate app. Our guide to virtual audio cable setup on Mac covers the common mistakes. The BlackHole alternative comparison covers the differences in detail.

Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba is a full recording app. It captures individual apps, devices or all system audio, records to MP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV, ALAC or FLAC, and sessions can apply effects such as a parametric EQ, a compressor and noise reduction. On macOS 14.4 and later it needs no driver install and no administrator password. Its timers start recordings on a schedule, which suits recurring internet radio shows. Audio Hijack is the right choice if you need scheduled recording and built-in processing.

LitLink Pro sits between free system-wide capture and full recording apps. Per-app routing in LitLink Pro isolates a single streaming app's audio for $29, compared to $69 for Audio Hijack. If you need clean single-app capture without scheduled recordings, LitLink Pro costs less, and the Audio Hijack alternative guide compares the two in more depth.