The fastest way to transfer playlists between Spotify and Apple Music

You can move playlists from Spotify to Apple Music using a third-party tool that reads your Spotify playlists and recreates them in Apple Music. The most common tool is Soundiiz, a free web service that connects to both accounts and transfers songs in bulk. You authorize Soundiiz to access your Spotify account, select which playlists you want to move, and it adds those songs to new playlists in Apple Music. The process takes a few minutes to set up and a few hours for the transfer to complete, depending on playlist size.

You can also do this manually by exporting your Spotify playlists as a file and importing them into Apple Music, though this method requires more steps and works best for smaller playlists. A third option is to use Apple Music's built-in feature to add songs from Spotify playlists one by one, which is practical only if you have a handful of playlists with very few songs.

Key Takeaways

  • Soundiiz is a free web tool that connects to both Spotify and Apple Music and transfers entire playlists in one operation.
  • You will need an active Spotify account and an Apple Music subscription to transfer playlists; the tool does not work with free Spotify accounts.
  • Soundiiz creates new playlists in Apple Music with the same names as your Spotify playlists and adds all the songs it can find.
  • Some songs may not transfer if they are not available on Apple Music, and you will need to add those manually or find similar tracks.
  • The transfer is permanent once complete; removing a song from the original Spotify playlist does not remove it from the Apple Music copy.

Using Soundiiz to transfer playlists automatically

Go to soundiiz.com in your web browser. Click the button to start a new transfer. You will see two dropdown menus: one for your source service (select Spotify) and one for your destination service (select Apple Music).

Click "Connect with Spotify" and sign in with your Spotify username and password. Soundiiz will ask for permission to read your playlists and library. Click "Agree" to proceed. Then click "Connect with Apple Music" and sign in with your Apple ID. Apple will ask which information Soundiiz can access; approve the request.

Once both accounts are connected, Soundiiz will show a list of your Spotify playlists. Check the boxes next to the playlists you want to transfer. You can select one playlist or multiple playlists at once. Click "Transfer" and Soundiiz will begin adding those songs to new playlists in your Apple Music account. The transfer usually completes within a few hours, depending on how many songs are in your playlists.

After the transfer finishes, open Apple Music and look for playlists with the same names as your Spotify playlists. The songs should be there. If you transferred multiple playlists, Soundiiz may create them with slightly different names (like "Soundiiz - Playlist Name") to avoid conflicts with existing playlists in your Apple Music library.

What happens when a song is not available on Apple Music

Soundiiz transfers only songs that exist on both Spotify and Apple Music. If a song is on your Spotify playlist but not on Apple Music, Soundiiz will skip it. You will not receive a warning for each missing song, but Soundiiz shows a summary after the transfer is complete that lists how many songs transferred successfully and how many were not found.

To find missing songs, go to the transferred playlist in Apple Music and look for gaps in the track order or missing artists. You can search for those songs manually in Apple Music and add them if they are available under a different artist name or album. Some independent or very new releases may not be on Apple Music at all, and you will have no way to add them through the service.

If you have many missing songs, you can run the transfer again after a few weeks. Apple Music's catalog changes regularly, and songs that were not available before may have been added since your first transfer.

Exporting and importing playlists manually

If you prefer not to use a third-party tool, you can export your Spotify playlists as a text or CSV file and then import them into Apple Music. This method is slower but gives you more control over which songs transfer.

On Spotify's desktop app or website, right-click a playlist and select "Share" and then "Copy Spotify URI." Paste this link into a browser and you will see the playlist. Some third-party sites like exportify.com can convert this into a downloadable file with all the song titles and artist names. read the file to your computer.

In Apple Music, you cannot import a file directly, but you can use the file to search for and add songs manually. Open the downloaded file, copy the first song title and artist name, search for it in Apple Music, and add it to a new playlist. Repeat this for every song. This method works best for playlists with fewer than 20 songs. For larger playlists, Soundiiz is much faster.

Adding songs from Spotify playlists one at a time in Apple Music

If you want to transfer only a few favorite songs from a Spotify playlist, you can add them to Apple Music manually without using any tool. Open Spotify and find the song you want to transfer. Right-click the song title and select "Share" and then "Copy Song Link." Paste the link into your browser to open the song's Spotify page.

Copy the song title and artist name from the Spotify page. Open Apple Music, search for that song, and click the plus icon to add it to a playlist. Create a new playlist in Apple Music with the same name as your Spotify playlist, or add the song to an existing playlist. Repeat for each song you want to transfer.

This method is practical only if you have a small number of songs to move. For playlists with dozens or hundreds of songs, it will take many hours and is error-prone. Use Soundiiz instead for any playlist larger than 10 or 15 songs.

Keeping playlists in sync after the transfer

Once you transfer a playlist from Spotify to Apple Music, the two playlists are separate. If you add a new song to your Spotify playlist later, it will not automatically appear in the Apple Music version. You will need to add it to the Apple Music playlist manually or run another transfer.

Soundiiz does not offer automatic syncing between Spotify and Apple Music. If you plan to keep using both services and want your playlists to stay the same, you will need to manually add new songs to both playlists as you discover them, or transfer again periodically using Soundiiz.

Some people solve this by choosing one service as their primary music app and using the other only occasionally. Others maintain separate playlists on each service. There is no built-in way to keep them synchronized, so decide which approach works best for your listening habits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an Apple Music subscription to transfer playlists?

Yes, you need an active Apple Music subscription. Soundiiz cannot add songs to Apple Music if you do not have a paid subscription. You also need a Spotify Premium account; the free version of Spotify does not work with Soundiiz.

Will the original Spotify playlists be deleted?

No, transferring a playlist to Apple Music does not delete it from Spotify. Your Spotify playlists remain unchanged. You will have copies of those playlists in both services.

Can I transfer playlists from Apple Music back to Spotify?

Yes, Soundiiz works in both directions. You can select Apple Music as the source and Spotify as the destination, and it will transfer playlists the same way. The process is identical.

What if Soundiiz does not find a song I know is on Apple Music?

Soundiiz matches songs by title and artist name, so if a song is credited to a slightly different artist name on Apple Music (like "The Beatles" versus "Beatles"), it may not find it. Search for the song manually in Apple Music and add it to the playlist yourself. This is rare but can happen with older or independent releases.

How long does a transfer take?

Most transfers complete within a few hours, though very large playlists with hundreds of songs may take longer. Soundiiz processes transfers in the background, so you can close your browser and check back later. You will not receive a notification when it is done, so check your Apple Music playlists periodically to see if the transfer has finished.