Spotify has been telling users for years that a lossless streaming option will be available “soon.” Each of its major competitors now offers at least CD-quality streaming, and several stream a significant portion of their catalog in high-resolution audio at a price that can compete with Spotify.
If you ask Spotify users why they haven’t moved on yet, most of them will talk about their carefully curated collection of likes and playlists. Dreading the prospect of having to rebuild their personal catalogs from scratch with another streamer, they just keep using Spotify – which, of course, works out well for Spotify.
Thankfully, there’s good news for anyone who wants to ditch Spotify but still take their playlists with them. There are several apps that will export your Spotify data to a file that you can then import into your new library on any other major streaming platform.
This feature is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best music streaming services.
Here are five apps that can help you move your library from Spotify to another streaming service.
Once you’re done with our overview, read on for advice on choosing the right app for you, details on Spotify HiFi (including why it’s so late), and more.
5 Apps to Transfer Your Spotify Playlists to Another Location
1. SongShift
SongShift is an iOS-based app that offers the best experience for iPhone users. The service supports transfers between Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Napster. There’s even support for music services that aren’t traditional subscription streamers, so you can also access YouTube, Pandora, Discogs, LastFM, and Hypebot.
SongShift allows you to search for a match if none can be found when preparing to transfer. The actual transfer is remarkably quick once you approve the matches and start the process. Unlimited transfers are possible with the free version, however the app is full of ads and I found the experience was faster after I upgraded to the paid version.
The Pro plan costs $6.99/month or $29.99/year. If you decide to cancel Spotify after a one-time migration, you may only need a single month as a Pro subscriber. Users who have active subscriptions to multiple services will likely need the Pro features regularly enough to justify an annual subscription.
SongShift is the only one of these services that offers a family plan that lets you and up to 5 other family members use all of the Pro features. It’s available for $9.99/month or $39.99/year, or $59.99 as a one-time purchase for a lifetime subscription.
Remember, you use your phone to manage your playlist. SongShift can monitor changes to a playlist on your source streaming service and update the songs across the platforms after you share them for the first time. This process isn’t automatic, but it worked well for me.
SongShift says it collects user data but doesn’t link it to a person’s identity. The service tracks changes you make to playlists on your source service and allows you to check their matches before updating the playback on the destination service.
2. Soundiiz
Soundiiz works through your web browser. This makes it easy to use no matter what platform you use, but it also means that the company processes your information on its cloud servers.
The free version is limited to playlists, so you’ll need to upgrade if you want to transfer your saved albums and songs. The premium plan costs $4.50/month or $36.00/year. If you want to transfer your entire library to a new service, you’ll need to pay.
Paid users can have up to 20 playlists automatically updated. If you’re a big fan of Spotify’s influential Rap Caviar or Today’s Top Hits playlists, you’ll be able to enjoy them seamlessly on your new service.
Soundiiz supports the same services as SongShift, but adds Bandcamp, SoundCloud, YouTube Music, Plex, Reddit, iHeart Radio, Anghami, Setlist.fm, and at least a dozen more I’d never seen before.
3. FreeYourMusic
FreeYourMusic has developed standalone apps for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux. If you don’t use iOS and don’t want to handle your playlists online, FreeYourMusic is the best option for you.
The app is just as fast and accurate as its competitors, which means there will always be a few bugs to correct. It’s also a bit more expensive: The Premium plan costs $19.99/quarter, $49.99/year, or $249.99 for a lifetime subscription.
The free version is limited to just 300 songs, enough for a user to figure out if they want to pay for full access. FreeYourMusic supports all major services and promises to update your playlists on the destination service when changes are made by the source service.
4. Playlisty for Apple Music
Playlisty for Apple Music is an iOS app with a loyal online following that appreciates the one-time fee of $2.99 and the fact that the developer does not collect any data from its users.
Playlisty is designed to import your playlists from Spotify, YouTube or Deezer into Apple Music. That’s all. Once you download the app, you can sync 20 songs before you have to pay for the app. Playlisty is intended for users who are making a one-time switch from Spotify to Apple Music, so it doesn’t support updating playlists on an ongoing basis.
The app is beautifully designed and incredibly fast. If you want to do a one-time migration from Spotify to Apple Music, Playlisty is the way to go. You won’t be able to share the playlists with your friends later, but Apple Music users should consider using Playlisty to migrate and then installing the free version of SongShift or using Soundiiz to share.
5. TuneMyMusic
TuneMyMusic is another web-based transfer service that allows users to transfer 500 songs in the free version before requiring a paid upgrade. The app supports Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Soundcloud, and Amazon Music.
The Premium subscription ($4.50/month or $24.00/year) allows unlimited transfers and automatic syncing of future changes for up to 20 playlists on the original service.
What you should know about Spotify switcher apps
Your playlists may vary
Unless you manually recreate your playlists, be aware that the results will vary regardless of the app you use.
If you prefer the sound of a particular version on Spotify (for example, the mastering of the LP version rather than the sound of the song on a greatest hits LP), one of these services may deliver a different version of the track than the one you want.
If this kind of thing bothers you, be prepared to go through and review everything once the transfer is complete. Some apps give you the option to review matches before initiating the transfer.
Take comfort in knowing that you’re still saving a ton of time compared to recreating each playlist track by track.
You can share your new playlists
Each of these apps also lets you share playlists with other users of another streaming service. If you’re a dedicated Qobuz user and all your friends still use Spotify, they can send you a playlist in a format that you can open in your own library.
If you can convince your friends to download an app or sign up for one of these services, there are free plans that will meet most users’ playlist sharing needs. This method requires a few more steps than just clicking the Share button in Spotify or Apple Music and sending a link to another subscriber. But these services offer a viable solution to a particularly annoying modern problem.
Each Spotify switching app handles the transfer process differently
Your choice of transfer tool also depends on your platform and personal preferences.
Some services offer a dedicated app to process transfers, while others use a web app to make their service as flexible as possible.
Some offer limited services for free, but all require payment to access the best features.
What is Spotify HiFi and what is special about lossless audio?
Spotify HiFi was promised more than three years ago and originally described as a way for paying Spotify users to “upgrade” their audio streams to lossless, CD-quality sound. Spotify HiFi was supposed to launch sometime in 2021, but that never happened.
If you’re willing to wait, there are reports that Spotify will finally offer a new high-quality audio option “later this year.” However, the premium service is expected to cost about $5 more and will also include some new playlist options. You can read all the latest developments on Spotify HiFi here.
In the meantime, Spotify subscribers have to live with lossy streaming and the non-lossless streaming quality can be disturbing.
While many users won’t hear a significant difference between CD-quality tracks (16-bit/44.1 kHz) and high-resolution ones (up to 24-bit/192 kHz), the audio difference between Spotify’s lossy streams and everyone else’s CD quality is pretty stark for most listeners.
If you’re not sure if you’ll be able to hear the difference after switching to lossless audio, nearly all competitors offer a free trial to potential new users. If you might like Tidal but have tried it before and don’t qualify for the free trial, try one of the other services and see if you can hear a difference. If your ears hear an improvement, you can subscribe to Tidal knowing you’ll get the same kind of improved experience.
How to choose a new music streaming service
If you’ve decided to make the switch, check out TechHive’s guide to the best music streaming services.
Each of the major competitors offers a robust listening experience that includes both CD-quality and high-resolution tracks, so your decision should depend on whether you’re an iOS or Android user and what specific features appeal to you.
