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ZDNET Highlights
- The Apple Music feature makes it easy to switch music libraries.
- The feature is also available to Android users who subscribe to Apple Music.
- You need an active Apple Music subscription to access this feature.
It’s been almost two years since I switched from Spotify Premium to an Apple Music subscription. At the time, I was looking for Apple’s lossless audio, its Dolby Atmos catalog for wired listening, and I’ll admit: I’m fond of Apple’s user interface. Two years ago, replicating eight years of saved music from the Spotify catalog to Apple Music was an incredibly difficult and even more time-consuming task.
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After searching Reddit for the best solution, I found SongShift, an app made specifically for transferring your music library from one streaming service to another. On SongShift’s free tier, I was limited to playlists with less than 200 songs, and full library transfers required a paid subscription.
With iOS 26, Apple began an official partnership with SongShift, integrating its technology into the Apple Music app, a partnership that has been in testing for over a year. Now, users can import their entire Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music, or YouTube Music catalogs to Apple Music from their iOS device’s Settings.
Until this feature appeared in my iPhone Settings, I was missing about 80% of my previous Spotify library. This additional service is free as long as you have an active Apple Music subscription. Here’s how to do it.
How to Import Your Music Library to Apple Music
what you’ll need: An iPhone or iPad updated to the latest version, an Android device with the latest version of Apple Music, or a laptop that can access the web version of Apple Music. You will also need the login credentials of your previous music streaming service.
On your iOS device, go to Settings, find “Music,” make sure “Sync Library” is enabled, and then tap “Transfer Music from Other Services.” Then, you can choose to shift your entire music library or select specific playlists to shift. Playlists saved in your Library but created by the streaming service, such as your Spotify Wrapped playlists from years past, will not transfer to Apple Music.
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Then, your songs will be transferred to Apple Music, and you will need to address any songs from the previous streaming service that are not available on Apple Music. Apple Music presents you with options, if applicable.
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If you’re using an Android device, open the Apple Music app and tap the three vertical “More” buttons to open app settings. There, you’ll get the same prompt to “Transfer music from other music services” and complete the same steps as above.
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If you’re using Apple Music on a web browser, sign in to your Apple Music account and tap your profile icon in the upper right corner. Choose which songs from which streaming service you want to transfer to Apple Music, then complete the steps above.
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Not surprisingly, there are no Spotify Live sessions available on Apple Music. Other songs I saved, particularly from movie soundtracks with original music, were unavailable in their original form and were instead listed under other albums. Additionally, some EPs and alternate versions of singles and LPs were unavailable, which is par for the course when switching streaming services.
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Very few songs, but unfortunately, the ones I really like, are lost forever in the void; There was no alternative version available on Apple Music. Yet, this is the reality when using digital streaming services. If you want uninterrupted access to your all-time favorite music, invest in vinyl, CDs or cassette tapes. Still, if you’re unhappy with your current music streaming service and want to make the jump to Apple Music, this trick makes the jump significantly easier.
