Switching Made Simple: Apple Music’s New Feature To Transfer Your Music
Apple Music just created a feature that will make switching from the competitors even easier. Many customers who want to switch to Apple Music are hesitant because of their extensive music libraries and playlists that won’t transfer to their new accounts if they pull the trigger. However, Apple is trying to find a way to remove this barrier and bring more people to their streaming service.
The company utilized the expertise of SongShift, a popular third-party service known for playlist transferring. Apple is currently testing the feature, making it available only in Australia and New Zealand. It is unclear if or when this will be available in other regions, but it could be part of the next update, iOS 19.
This feature allows users to go into their app settings and select “Transfer Music From Other Streaming Service” to transfer playlists, liked songs, and albums. The only limitation to this feature is that some music or versions of the music are not available across all platforms. In this case, Apple Music will find the closest alternatives and allow users to select which they want to add to their library. Users will have 30 days from the initial transfer to pick these alternatives.
To make this as easy as possible, Apple’s support page lists detailed instructions for this process. This feature will be compatible with Spotify, YouTube Music, and other streaming platforms.
Spotify is Apple Music’s biggest competitor. Both apps utilize similar features like access to large catalogs of music, podcasts, and personalized recommendations. Both apps also offer ad-free listening, for Spotify, this comes with a premium subscription. There is a free version of Spotify with ads that customers can use. Apple Music requires a monthly subscription to access any of its features, but allows you to use iTunes to purchase music if you choose.
One difference between the apps that sways customers is the design and compatibility with devices. Apple Music is very user-friendly with a sleek and clean display, while Spotify’s displays are less consistent with frequent testing of new features.
Whether you are a diehard Spotify user or a lifelong Apple Music fan, this feature opens up opportunities for cross-platform sharing. If you have ever wanted to send a friend your playlist but couldn’t because of platform conflict, a solution might be on the horizon.