The right way to transfer your Spotify playlists and songs to Apple Music

Apple Music has a built-in tool that brings your Spotify playlists and saved songs with you, whether you use an iPhone, an Android phone or the web.

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Spotify is the go-to music streaming app for hundreds of millions of people, but in recent years, it's given its massive user base plenty of reasons to reconsider. The company has been controversial for paying incredibly low rates to artists, for its founder's investments in defense companies, and for the growing number of AI-generated songs clogging up the platform. Now that Spotify has revealed plans to launch a service that lets anyone "remix" existing songs with generative AI, another exodus of artists and users may be on the horizon. Fortunately, it's easy to get out if you're heading to one of the best Spotify alternatives, like Apple Music.

The hardest part of switching streaming music services is making sure you don't lose your favorite tracks along the way, especially if you're a longtime Spotify user with loads of saved songs and playlists on the app. Starting from scratch can be a scary endeavor.

The good news is that Apple Music and other Spotify competitors have their own tools that let you bring your playlists and saved songs with you when you leave for greener pastures.

How to transfer your playlists to Apple Music on any device

Apple Music makes the most sense for people already in the iOS ecosystem, but you don't need an iPhone or other Apple device to use it. To sync your Spotify playlists to Apple Music, you need an active Apple Music subscription and must sign in to the Spotify account you're transferring from and grant Apple Music access to it. To start the process, open Apple Music on whichever device you'd prefer. If you don't already have Sync Library turned on, head to the Settings menu in Apple Music from a desktop computer, and you'll find the Sync Library option under the General tab. If you're using an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app, tap Music, and scroll down to find the Sync Library option.

To complete the transfer, open Apple Music and tap the My Account button on iOS or the More button on Android, then Settings. From this menu, you'll see the Transfer Music from Other Music Services option. On Apple Music's web player, the same option appears under the main account menu when you click your profile picture. Open it, and the app will bring up a list of compatible services, including Spotify. Select Spotify and you'll get prompted to sign in. From here, you can pick the specific favorites or playlists you want to transfer, then click Add to Library.

It will take some time for Apple Music to find the same tracks in its library before you get a Transfer Complete notification. If you instead see Some Music Needs Review, it means you had some tracks that weren't found in Apple Music's library, and you'll be prompted to approve the closest matches if they're available. From the time you initiate the transfer, the option to review alternate tracks will remain in the Settings menu for 30 days, giving you some time to finish the transfer.