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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- An Apple Music feature makes it easy to switch music libraries.
- The feature is also available to Android users subscribed 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 seeking Apple’s lossless audio for wired listening, its Dolby Atmos catalog, and I’ll admit: I’m a sucker for Apple’s user interface. Two years ago, replicating eight years’ worth of saved music from the Spotify catalog to Apple Music was an incredibly daunting and even more time-consuming task.
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After scouring Reddit for the best solution, I came across 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 under 200 songs, and full library transfers required a paid subscription.
With iOS 26, Apple introduced an official partnership with SongShift, integrating its technology into the Apple Music app, a partnership that’s been in testing for over a year. Now, users can import their entire Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Amazon Music, or YouTube Music catalog 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. As long as you have an active Apple Music subscription, this additional service is free. 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 Apple Music’s web version. You’ll also need the login credentials of your previous music streaming service.
On your iOS device, go to Settings, search for “Music,” ensure “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 to your library but created by the streaming service, such as your previous years’ Spotify Wrapped playlists, will not transfer to Apple Music.
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Then, your songs will be transferred to Apple Music, and you’ll need to address any songs from the previous streaming service that are not available on Apple Music. Apple Music with present you with alternatives, 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 find the same prompts 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 on your profile icon in the top right corner. Choose which songs from which streaming service you’d like to transfer to Apple Music, then complete the same steps as above.
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Unsurprisingly, any Spotify Live Sessions are not available on Apple Music. Other songs I saved, especially from movie soundtracks with original music, were unavailable in their original form and were instead listed under other albums. Additionally, certain EPs and alternative 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, ones I really love, were forever lost to the void; there wasn’t an alternative version available on Apple Music. Yet, such is the reality when using digital streaming services. If you want unfettered 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 taking the leap considerably easier.
