Apple Music Transfer Tool for Switching From Spotify Now Available in US and 8 Other Countries

[MacRumors]

Apple has quietly expanded availability of its music transfer tool to seven additional countries, allowing users to import playlists and libraries from competing streaming services directly into Apple Music.

The feature initially launched in Australia and New Zealand in May 2025, and is now available in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to an updated Apple Support document.

The transfer tool lets users migrate their saved music, albums, and playlists from services like Spotify through a partnership with SongShift. Users can initiate transfers through the Apple Music app on iPhone/iPad via the Music app settings menu (On iPhone, go to Settings ➝ Apps ➝ Music ➝ Transfer Music from Other Music Services).

If you don't see the above option, go to music.apple.com in your web browser, sign into your Apple Account, then click your profile picture in the top-right corner and select Transfer Music.

Apple Music attempts to match songs in its catalog, flagging items that need review when exact matches aren't found. Only user-created playlists can be transferred, not service-generated ones.

The expansion may indicate Apple is readying the tool for further international rollout in the coming months.

Article Link: Apple Music Transfer Tool for Switching From Spotify Now Available in US and 8 Other Countries

 

[knappeduivel]

Would be nice if an export to Spotify would also be enabled.

 

[Rob__Mac]

Not seeing in iOS 26 Beta 8

 

[john9876]

Not seeing in iOS 26 Beta 8

I'm seeing it in iOS 18.6.2 here in the UK. Will probably give it a try even although I moved over from Spotify Premium to Apple Music a while ago. Other members of my family group may find it more useful.

 

[allenvanhellen]

Rights issues are a mess between services and between countries. If you move streamers or countries you will likely lose access to loads of albums from your library and songs from your playlists. This made me switch back to a locally-stored library and iPods, but also with iTunes Match to get *most* of my library accessible on HomePod and Apple Watch. It should “just work”, but…

 

[al.aiello]

Would be nice if an export to Spotify would also be enabled.

Ah, Ah, Ah! You win!

 

[winxmac]

Prices are different because of region-locking. Some content are accessible in some countries but not in others. For example, Japanese music is easily accessible if you are in Japan or using a Japan-based IP address or connected to a VPN server in Japan, however, if you are accessing Japanese content in your own country, results may vary. Some Japanese music may be available in full while other songs/albums may be grayed out or inaccessible to you.

Because of this region-locking/exclusivity/licensing, users are unsubscribing and go back to what is better for them.

 

[MrRom92]

All this but they still wont let you put FLAC files on a phone

 

[UliBaer]

All this but they still wont let you put FLAC files on a phone

Of course you can do that, you'll simply have to use another transfer/play app for that. Documents and VLC work like a charm for transfer and playing of files - and movies of all kind also btw.

 

[Nozgog]

Do you need Spotify Premium to do that?

 

[ryanmp]

How about an Apple Music (and wider media) transfer tool to move between regions.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

All this but they still wont let you put FLAC files on a phone

VOX is a good FLAC player, too.

 

[philstubbington]

Would be nice if an export to Spotify would also be enabled.

I think can do that with SongShift (the app, that is).

 

[MrRom92]

Of course you can do that, you'll simply have to use another transfer/play app for that. Documents and VLC work like a charm for transfer and playing of files - and movies of all kind also btw.

VOX is a good FLAC player, too.

Having your files sandboxed in a 3rd party app and treated differently than every other music file format by Apple is NOT an appropriate substitute - this has been discussed ad nauseum. Everytime someone mentions that Apple still deliberately blocks you from loading FLAC files into your device’s native music library, some wiseguy comes out of the woodwork and tells you to just use some app. Completely missing the point here!!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Having your files sandboxed in a 3rd party app and treated differently than every other music file format by Apple is NOT an appropriate substitute - this has been discussed ad nauseum. Everytime someone mentions that Apple still deliberately blocks you from loading FLAC files into your device’s native music library, some wiseguy comes out of the woodwork and tells you to just use some app. Completely missing the point here!!

I agree with you, and it would be nice if they supported FLAC, but Apple never has. So, after 25 years, most have given up even talking about it.

It was a discussion and pain point back in the original iPod days. I remember converting FLAC to ALAC back in 2003-2004ish.

 

[UliBaer]

Having your files sandboxed in a 3rd party app and treated differently than every other music file format by Apple is NOT an appropriate substitute - this has been discussed ad nauseum. Everytime someone mentions that Apple still deliberately blocks you from loading FLAC files into your device’s native music library, some wiseguy comes out of the woodwork and tells you to just use some app. Completely missing the point here!!

Sorry for trying to help you! ¯\_(シ)_/¯

I don't use any music or audio streaming services, i exclusively use my own video and audio files!
So that system politics by Apple (or any other entity) simply doesn't bother me... 😎

 

[MrRom92]

Sorry for trying to help you! ¯\_(シ)_/¯

I don't use any music or audio streaming services, i exclusively use my own video and audio files!
So that system politics by Apple (or any other entity) simply doesn't bother me... 😎

I don’t mean to come off as unappreciative of the help, it’s just such a common response that I feel distracts from the point of the conversation. I am very familiar with the various apps available, and have made use of them for years at this point. But there are still downsides to this approach, and it’s not one that is necessary for users of MP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV, WMA files, etc, it is just the one that music enthusiasts actually care about in the current day and age that is still treated like a 3rd rate file format by only the world’s biggest tech company, and nobody else.

They would rather put all this effort into playlist migration tools for other services than the minimal work it would take to enable use of a file format, something they could probably have an intern bang out during their lunch break. It is shameful.

Like you I do not use a music streaming service, and I am not left wanting

 

[MrRom92]

I agree with you, and it would be nice if they supported FLAC, but Apple never has. So, after 25 years, most have given up even talking about it.

It was a discussion and pain point back in the original iPod days. I remember converting FLAC to ALAC back in 2003-2004ish.

It feels like I’ve been spouting off about it for that long. It’s only gotten more absurd as time has gone on. No other tech company on the planet seems to pretend like this format doesn’t exist. I will never not be disappointed when Apple claims to care about music but deliberately prevents their own software from working with the one file format the enthusiasts actually care about.

 

[wbeasley]

I'd love Apple to support LDAC for Bluetooth.

Given Apple Music has lossless music options, this would improve playback on Sony and other speakers.
There's a noticeable better sound when I play the same song from an Android device.

Probably asking too much for NFC pairing while we are at it

 

[abracadaver]

This is great for people looking to move to the platform! I was a Spotify user from it's initial launch in the US, and being able to import all my (many, many) custom playlists was a big catalyst in making the switch last year.

Unrelated to this specific tool, but to swapping in general, for anyone considering: the Apple algorithm has been great! The New Music Mix playlist that updates each Friday is just as accurate/dialed in as my Spotify Discovery Weekly playlist was. I think the app does a good job of surfacing things I already like and things I'll probably like. The queueing system is finally queuing things like Spotify. Apple increased the number artists to their Similar Artists scroller, which was always useful for music discovery on Spotify. No service is perfect but I think iOS 26 will bring some great QoL tweaks and the gap is fairly small.

 

[stormchasejg]

How about an Apple Music (and wider media) transfer tool to move between regions.

I changed my region from the UK to the US end of last year and everything in my Apple Music Library transferred over fine, only thing that went missing was a few purchased movies. I just made sure to backup my library before I did the change incase it got messed up but I never needed to use it luckily.

 

[subjonas]

Omg finally Apple's transfer tool came to the US. It seems like other countries always get features way before the US if they even come to the US at all.

 

[phenste]

anyone on these forums realize how funny this timing is?

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Leave Spotify

Like Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu, the Australian band opposes military investments made by Daniel Ek

pitchfork.com

Deerhoof Leaving Spotify Over CEO's Investment In AI Military Startup

In addition to being the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek is also the chairman of Helsing, a German defense technology company that develops AI software designed to enhance military weapons and equipment. Earlier this month Helsing said they raised nearly $700 million in a bumper new round of funding...

www.stereogum.com

Xiu Xiu Removing Music From Spotify

Last month Deerhoof announced that they were in the process of getting their music removed from Spotify, citing CEO Daniel Ek’s $700 million investment in a military AI startup. Today another experimental rock band has also announced their intentions to sever ties with the company. “Spotify uses...

www.stereogum.com

even if it wasn’t intentional timing, hilariously petty on Apple’s part

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Been using SongShift for years. Well worth the purchase.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Would be nice if an export to Spotify would also be enabled.

The SongShift app can do just that.