Just upgraded to 2.0.3 from an older version and there’s no export MP3 option in the file menu.
Downloaded, unpacked and installed Lame_Library_v3.98.2_for_Audacity_on_OSX.dmg and located it in the preferences.
The message I get when I try to save to an MP3 is “Unable to open target file for writing.”
I’m on Mac OS X 10.7.5 and feeling totally bummed.
Try exporting again using dead plain filenames. No punctuation marks at all. MyMusic.wav or MyMusic.mp3. Print dates like this:
MyMusic20130809.
Actually, dashes are “legal,” so you could do it MyMusic2013-08-09.
Koz
That wasn’t the problem. But the length of the file name was. I was using 9 characters all lowercase with no spaces and it wouldn’t work. Tried 3 characters and it worked. Lame is a fitting name for this file. 
What was the full path and file name that you were trying to use?
That has nothing to do with lame. You’re messing with the MacOS file system somehow.
Koz
I am running OSX 10.9.1 on a MacBook Pro
Audacity 2.05 - downloaded and installed from dmg
Audacity records ok and able to save projects.
However when I try and export to mp3 - “Unable to open target file for writing”
When I try and export to wav - “Cannot export audio to /Volumes/Audacity2.05/Audacity/Fantasia Test.wav”
Audacity has its own folder in Applications and I run Audacity using the app file.
nyquist is in its own folder within the Audacity folder
libmp3lame.dylib is on its own but within the Audacity folder
Please advise
Thanks - Terry
Further to my last … I have solved the problem.
I did another download of LAME but this time used the zip file.
Installed it and set the LAME Library - which was not there before - in the same folder as Audacity and the export to mp3 now works!
Thanks
Terry
Anything except colon is a Mac-legal character - but Audacity has a few bugs that impose some extra character restrictions. Koz is talking about safety if you want to give the file to someone else, post it on the internet or avoid the few Audacity bugs.
“Safe” dashes are strictly the “hyphen-minus” or NUMPAD-SUBTRACT key only.
Underscore (hyphen-minus using the SHIFT key) is “safe” too.
Gale
I am having the same error message, “Unable to open target file for writing”. (I am trying export multiple tracks) I am not opening Audacity from the “DMG”; I open it from a folder within the applications folder. I am not sure what you are referring to with the suggestions about leaving out any type of punctuations from the name: WHAT name? The name of the individual tracks that I created in this specific project? or the name of the entire project? Obviously, you are not talking about the name of the location to where the file is being exported to, because that must be kept to what the OS sets it at (in my case, to the Desktop).
I downloaded the ZIP version of Lame, and tried to export again, but nothing changed. Is it, perhaps, because I still have the original Lame file on my computer, and therefore Audacity is still using that version? PLEASE HELP!!! I’m getting paid by the hour, and while the more time I spend the more money I make……I like to earn my money honestly 
The name of the MP3 you are writing.
So for Export Multiple based on labels, the name you type in the labels. For Export Multiple based on tracks, the name the track has in the Track Drop-Down Menu.
The problem is an Audacity bug. You should be able to use any character except colon in the file name. But due to the bug, a forward slash (/) in the file name will cause an error. The error is usually “cannot export audio” though, so you may have a permissions problem with LAME (see below).
The other characters you can’t have in file names in Export Multiple are " * " or " ? " .
If " / " is the problem, then on OS X you can still use the " / " in the file name by drag-selecting a region, File > Export Selection then repeat for the other regions you want to export.
You can change the location to be exported to, assuming you have permission to write there.
Have you already extracted “libmp3lame.dylib” and located it in Audacity’s “Libraries” Preferences exactly as described here Audacity Manual ?
That should work. If not, Audacity > Quit Audacity. Open Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and type:
~/Library/Application Support/audacity/
Open the file “audacity.cfg” in TextEdit.
If they exist, delete the two lines starting with:
[MP3]
MP3LibPath=
Save audacity.cfg.
Move “libmp3lame.dylib” from wherever it is into the “Audacity” folder in /Applications. If “libmp3lame.dylib” is in /usr/local/lib/audacity, quit Audacity, log in as admin, and use Go to Folder (as above) to open /usr/local/lib/audacity. Then you can move “libmp3lame.dylib” (or delete it if you already have the file in the “Audacity” folder).
Launch Audacity.
Audacity should now see LAME without any configuration.
Gale
You can also export from Audacity as WAV and convert to MP3 in iTunes. See: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Exporting_your_Audacity_Project_into_iTunes_and_iPod#convert .
Gale
Or see this workflow tutorial from the Manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/sample_workflow_for_exporting_to_itunes.html
WC
Gale,
Thanks for responding so quickly! It is truly a blessing to have your help. However, Unfortunately, I have not been able to get any further with exporting multiple tracks 
[Process completed]”
What do I do from here? It doesn’t seem there is anything for me to do. Was I supposed to take a step in between to ‘extract’ the contents? I understanding what extracting means, but I don’t think there is additional step to do that over here.
but still could not export multiple tracks (got the same error message).
What can I possibly do? Please help!!! Should I rid every remnant of Audacity and Lame from my computer and start again???
Gershon
What are all three numbers from Audacity > About Audacity… ? You should be using 2.0.5 from Audacity ® | Download for Mac OS .
It depends what the problem is.
Are you doing export multiple by typing names in labels (as in Audacity Manual )?
If the same issue happens with WAV this suggests you either still have unwanted characters in the track names or it is a permissions problem.
If it is a problem with names, then drag-selecting the first region you want to export in the blue waves, choosing File > Export Selection… and repeating for the other selections will fix it.
If Export Selection does not fix it, Mac might not be letting you export to the folder you are trying to export to. Try exporting to your own Desktop. You can do this in the File Export dialogue by clicking on “Desktop” in the “Favourites” pane on the left. If you do not see that pane, click the downwards-pointing arrow to right of “Save As:”.
If the problem persists, you can click Help > Show Log… in Audacity. Drag select from top to bottom of the log, then COMMAND + C to copy. COMMAND + V to paste the log in here. This may give us some information about the problem.
If the Mac can see “libmp3lame.dylib” then you have already extracted it from the zip (which should happen automatically on modern Macs). All you should then need to do is drag “libmp3lame.dylib” into Audacity’s folder in /Applications, then restart Audacity. You will need the admin password or to be logged in as administrator to add the dylib file to Audacity’s folder in /Applications.
Putting the dylib file in Audacity’s folder in /Applications should always work, as long as the dylib file in /usr/local/lib/audacity is not being blocked by Apple permissions, and as long as the lines:
[MP3]
MP3LibPath=
do not exist in audacity.cfg.
Gale
-I am using 2.0.5
-I couldn’t drag anything. If it still matters, can you be more specific about dragging?
-Since I first began attempting to export multiple, I have had the destination set to my desktop, so I don’t think that is of any issue
13:24:08: Audacity 2.0.5
13:24:08: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries…
13:24:08: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from default path, ‘/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Checking for monolithic avformat from ‘/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avutil from ‘/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavutil.50.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavutil.50.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avcodec from ‘/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavcodec.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavcodec.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avformat from ‘/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/Library/Application Support/audacity/libs/libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
13:24:08: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from legacy path, ‘/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Checking for monolithic avformat from ‘/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avutil from ‘/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavutil.50.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavutil.50.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avcodec from ‘/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavcodec.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavcodec.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avformat from ‘/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(/usr/local/lib/audacity/libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
13:24:08: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from system paths. File name is ‘libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Checking for monolithic avformat from ‘libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avutil from ‘libavutil.50.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(libavutil.50.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avcodec from ‘libavcodec.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(libavcodec.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Loading avformat from ‘libavformat.52.dylib’.
13:24:08: Error: dlopen(libavformat.52.dylib, 1): image not found
13:24:08: Error: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
13:24:08: Error: Failed to find compatible FFmpeg libraries.
13:41:12: Attempting to load LAME from previously defined path
13:41:12: Loading LAME from /usr/local/lib/audacity/audacity/libmp3lame.dylib
13:41:12: Actual LAME path /usr/local/lib/audacity/audacity/libmp3lame.dylib
13:41:12: LAME library successfully loaded
13:41:12: Error: can’t open file ‘/Users/figuringitout/Desktop/L’shem Yichud (Hartman)/Mi Adir.mp3’ (error 2: No such file or directory)
It is physically like selecting text.
If your first section to be exported goes from time zero on the left of the waves to 3 minutes, zoom out if necessary, click in the waves at 3 minutes, then drag leftwards until you reach zero (you should see a yellow vertical line when you reach zero).
What happens in Audacity if you use File > Export Labels… in Audacity and save the text file to your Desktop?
Can you save a text file to your Desktop if you create a file in TextEdit?
If you can’t save from TextPad, then I suggest you open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility then run “Verify Disk” followed by “Repair Permissions”.
So this suggests Audacity has loaded LAME and you should see its version number in Libraries Preferences.
Is this the file you are trying to export?
I don’t understand how it could have the same timestamp as the preceding log entries which will be generated on launch of Audacity.
Anyway as already explained, forward slashes (/) cannot be used in Export Multiple due to a bug. So if you are exporting to Desktop and you have entered
L'shem Yichud (Hartman)/Mi Adir
in the label, that will be rejected because of the “/”.
If you are exporting the file “Mi Adir.MP3” to a directory:
/Users/figuringitout/Desktop/L'shem Yichud (Hartman)
that should work if Mac allows you permission to write to that user’s Desktop.
If you are logged in as some other user than “figuringitout” then you will properly be denied to write to figuringitout’s desktop unless you are running your user with administrative permissions.
Gale