The default behaviour for web browsers these days seems to be to stream MP3 files rather than download them. That’s been the case for a while, but it’s getting harder to find the option to get them to download. I maintain a site that sells content in MP3 format – explaining to purchasers how to download them is a recurring issue.
Here’s what I know. It’s incomplete and, in some cases, untested. Corrections and additions are welcome.
Chrome
[tested on Windows]
Ctrl+S
OR
Click the “…” on the embedded player and select Download.
OR
Right click the embedded player and select select “Save Audio As …”.
Firefox
[tested on Windows + Linux]
Ctrl+S
OR
Right click the embedded audio player and select “Save Audio As …”. Clicking the background won’t work it has to be the player (Play button, time remaining counter, etc.)
OR
In the Firefox address bar, type “about:config” (without the quotes) and accept the risks. Use the search box to find the preference media.play-stand-alone. Double click (or right click + Toggle) to turn the value from True to False. It should now ask you if you want to save rather than just playing automatically. This will apply to all media so you may want to set it back to False once you’re done.
Safari
[untested]
Click on the URL in the address bar and pressing the Option and Enter keys at the same time. This should bring up a save dialog.
Internet Explorer 11
[tested on Windows]
Default behaviour is to ask if you want to Open or Save. Select Save.