How to Transfer Songs From Spotify to Apple Music
Nobody wants to have to create playlists from scratch when switching from one streaming music service to another. Sure, some of us get around this by subscribing to multiple services at once , but that’s not for everyone. Several third-party services make it easy to transfer songs from Spotify to Apple Music and vice versa, but there’s no official support for the feature yet.
Apple Music is changing that: You can now transfer your playlists directly into Apple’s music app from other streaming services like Spotify. At the time of writing, the feature is available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.
What music streaming sites can I import songs from?
The Apple Music library transfer feature is based on SongShift, which my colleague Khamosh Pathak has already written about . It supports importing music from the following streaming services:
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Amazon Music
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Diser
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Spotify
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Tidal
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YouTube Music
What You’ll Need Before Transferring Songs to Apple Music
To transfer songs from any supported streaming service to Apple Music using this method, you need to meet a few simple requirements. Here’s what you’ll need:
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Subscribe to Apple Music.
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An iPhone/iPad with the latest version of iOS/iPadOS, or an Android phone with the latest version of the Apple Music app. You can also transfer your library using any web browser.
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Your credentials for Spotify or any other service you’re transferring music from.
You’ll also want to make sure that Sync Library is turned on on all your Apple Music devices. It should be on by default, but you can easily check. On your iPhone/iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Music and turn on Sync Library . If you have Apple Music for Mac, open the app, click the Music button in the menu bar at the top, and open Preferences . In the General tab, turn on Sync Library .
After that, you can start transferring music from other streaming services.
How to Transfer Music from Spotify (or Other Services) to Apple Music
To transfer songs from Spotify (or other streaming services) to the mobile version of Apple Music, follow these steps on your iPhone/iPad or Android phone:
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On iPhone/iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Music . On Android, open the Apple Music app, tap the More button (the icon with three dots), then tap Settings .
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Click Transfer music from other music services .
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Select the streaming service you’re importing music from and sign in to your account with that service.
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Select the music you want to transfer and click Add to Library when finished.
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Wait for Apple Music to update your catalogs. Once your music has transferred, you’ll see a message that says “Transfer complete.”
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If Apple Music can’t find exact matches for your content, you’ll see a message that says “Some songs need verification.” Select Verify now , select alternate versions of the problematic songs, and click Save to complete the transfer.
To transfer music to Apple Music on the web, follow these steps:
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Go to music.apple.com and sign in to your Apple account.
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Tap the profile icon in the top right corner, then select “Transfer Music.”
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Select the service you are importing music from and sign in to your account with that service.
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Select the music you want to import and click Add to Library . Apple Music will begin the transfer process. The time it takes to complete depends on the size of your library. Once the transfer is complete, you’ll see a “Transfer complete” notification.
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If exact matches cannot be found for some of your content, you will also see a message that says “Some songs need verification. ” Select Verify Now to select other songs, and click Save to complete the transfer.
Apple says you have 30 days from the date of the initial transfer to verify your transferred music and complete the transfer process. During that time, you won’t be able to start a new transfer on that device until you’ve verified the previous one. That means if you’re trying to import music from multiple streaming services, you’ll have to verify the songs from the first service before moving on to the next. Luckily, it’s easy to do.
How to View Imported Songs in Apple Music
You will have the opportunity to check the translation immediately after it is completed, but if you missed this moment, you can still check it within 30 days. Follow these steps to check the translation, depending on your device:
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On iPhone/iPad, you can go to Settings > Apps > Music > View Current Translation .
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Open Apple Music on your Android phone and tap More . Then go to Settings > View Current Transfer .
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On music.apple.com, tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner, then tap Browse .
Please note that depending on your service, you may have trouble transferring some playlists to Apple Music. This is because while the app will transfer playlists you’ve created yourself, it won’t be able to transfer playlists created by Spotify, Tidal, or other services.