
If you're looking to make the switch from Spotify and Apple Music is your new preferred streaming service, migrating your library and playlists is easier than you might expect.
While there are countless apps (that tend to require either a one-off fee or a monthly payment) designed to move your favourite music between services, there's an option buried in the iPhone and iPad Settings app.
If you open the Settings app, scroll down to Apps, and then to Music, you'll find a Transfer Music From Other Services button. Tapping this will give you the option to import music from services including Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, and YouTube.
I tested this feature out by moving my Spotify library to Apple Music. It asked me to log in to Spotify, and then provided fairly simple options for migration. There's a toggle for moving across all songs and albums, and a second toggle for playlists. If you don't want to move all playlists across, you can pick and choose instead.
After about ten minutes, my Apple Music library had populated with the contents of my sizable Spotify collection. After the process was done, I was given a small list of content that couldn't be migrated. For the most part, these were singles that were uploaded to Spotify as individual tracks ahead of an album being released. The music is still available on Apple Music, just as part of the full album.
Leaving Spotify has once again become a subject of discussion, following CEO Daniel Ek's €600 million investment in a German defence tech company specialising in AI-driven combat. After the investment became public, several bands started pulling their music from Spotify.
These include prolific Australian rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, who specifically called out the military investments in an Instagram story.
"We just removed our music from the platform. Can we put pressure on these Dr. Evil tech bros to do better? Join us on another platform."
Other artists who have left Spotify following Ek's investment include art rockers Xiu Xiu, indie band Deerhoof, folk singer Leah Senior, and solo Aussie metal project Cave Sermon.
Spotify has historically courted more controversy than rival streaming platforms. In recent years, it has faced flak for filling playlists with music from "ghost artists" it doesn't pay royalties on, no longer paying artists for music that doesn't get at least 1,000 streams per year, and its dealings with Joe Rogan.
While streaming services guard how much they pay artists, industry blog The Trichordist reported that Spotify paid artists just USD$0.00348 per stream in 2020. For comparison, at the time, Apple Music paid USD$0.00675 per stream, Tidal paid USD$0.00876, and Deezer paid USD$0.00562.
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Alex Choros