By a wide margin, the two most popular music streaming services are Apple Music and Spotify. Which service is best for you is probably the one you or your family has used for many years. However, the two sites have introduced significant updates over the past year or more, and you may find it advantageous to make a transfer.
When comparing Apple Music with Spotify, these are the key distinctions.
streaming without quality loss
Apple Music is unique among streaming services in that it provides access to lossless audio files. All paying subscribers have access to CD-quality (16-bit/44.1 kHz) and Hi-Res Lossless (up to 24-bit/192 kHz) audio since May 2021, when the service established a lossless tier. The trick is that subscribers only need to pay the same $10/month as before to access these lossless tunes.
Spotify Hifi, the company’s lossless streaming service, was originally slated for release by the end of 2021, but it has yet to arrive. When it does debut, we have no idea how much it will set you back.
Adopting the use of smart speakers
Another major motivator to make the transition to Apple Music is the impending purchase of one of Apple’s smart speakers, such as the HomePod or the HomePod mini. Apple’s smart speakers only listen to “Hey Siri” voice commands for music if you have an Apple Music subscription, unlike other popular smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, Nest Home, and even the Sonos One (and, as of May 2021, Deezer). You can only use Siri to play/pause music, skip tracks, and change the volume if you have a Spotify subscription.
While Apple’s HomePods are the only smart speakers it is not compatible with, Spotify works fine with all the others. If you own a smart speaker like the Amazon Echo, the Nest Audio by Google, or the Sonos One, you may set Spotify as the default music service so that voice commands will function.
One-of-a-kind podcasts
Podcasts are another major part of these music streaming services, with Spotify clearly coming out on top. By negotiating exclusive licensing agreements, Spotify has prevented Apple Music users from listening to some of the most popular podcasts (including The Joe Rogan Experience, Armchair Expert, and Call Her Daddy).
Here are the top mobile apps and digital services for making the change
It’s not easy to make the jump from Spotify to Apple Music. In contrast to Spotify, Apple Music’s app doesn’t have podcasts (you need to open the separate Apple Podcasts app for that). Transferring your Spotify playlists to Apple Music is one approach to ease the pain of switching if you find yourself in this position.
To transfer your playlists, you’ll need to use a third-party program like the ones we’ve listed below; this may incur a small fee, but it’s worth it. Further, the below services are not restricted to Apple Music or Spotify. These services may probably help you switch from any music streaming platform to another, whether you’re coming from Tidal to Amazon Music or Pandora to Deezer.
Comparing and contrasting Apple Music vs Spotify
You’ve chosen to switch from Spotify to Apple Music now that it offers lossless audio for its complete repertoire and is adding thousands of music in Dolby Atmos Music. But you’ve put in a lot of work selecting your favorite music and albums and organizing them into playlists. Should I make the change? Is there a chance that our efforts will be misconstrued?
The good news is there are a number of fantastic resources available, both free and for a fee, that can ease the move. Upgrade to Apple Music’s audio (which works wonderfully with the new AirPods) and you’ll be able to take your favorite songs, playlists, and more with you if you use the correct services.
The First Steps
Switching to Apple Music is great because it doesn’t make a difference whether you’ve been a free or Premium user of Spotify. Even before the recent changes, free Spotify users could organize their own playlists; they just couldn’t choose individual songs to play. It would be necessary to reshuffle them each time. Before you begin, there are a few things to remember.
First, you’ll need a Spotify account with playlists you’d like to bring across. So long as it has been thus far. These are playlists that you have followed, either ones that other users have made or ones that you have made yourself. Occasionally, Spotify’s curated playlists, such as Discover Weekly and others, will also be available for export. The actual results you get could be different.
The second step is to subscribe to the paid Apple Music service. A simple possession of the app is insufficient. In order to obtain the playlists you wish to transfer, you must first join up and have a valid subscription (trial periods are ok).
Keep in mind that there is a chance you will miss out on some tracks or albums that are only accessible on Spotify and not on Apple Music, as the two services do not share their entire music libraries. When it’s time to make the actual transition, the instructions provided below should make that very obvious.
Make use of a music-changing program like SongShift.
First, there are apps available if you’re currently using an iOS device and prefer to transmit data in-app. In order to import your playlists into Apple Music, SongShift is the best app out there. You can test it out without signing up for an account, and it won’t cost you anything until you upgrade to a Pro membership, which will speed things up and offer you access to premium features.
The second step is to log into either your Spotify or Apple Music account, depending on which music library you’d like to share. Launch SongShift and log onto both accounts.
In Stage 3, choose the source from which you will be setting up the transfer of music. Visit your Spotify account and locate the playlist(s) you wish to import into Apple Music. You may view both the songs that match and the songs that don’t when you choose the playlists, albums, or songs you want to transfer. Those songs can be ignored if you don’t feel like rematching them, or you can try to rematch them (which can happen). Keep in mind that transferring files takes longer on the free plan than it does with a Pro subscription.
The fourth step is to select Apple Music as the destination when prompted to do so. Select “I’m finished” after you’re done. SongShift will show you the music pairings it is preparing and alert you to any major failed pairings so you can try again. When SongShift determines that the transfer can proceed, it will do so. Given the time commitment, this is better accomplished on a stationary computer rather than a battery-operated mobile device.
Switcheroo Transfer is an alternative iOS app that performs the same function. It doesn’t cost anything to use, but the number of supported services is smaller. The UI is simpler and easier to use. By logging into Spotify, you may choose the playlists you want to import into Apple Music. Having a current Apple Music subscription is required once more for this to function, and you can only copy playlists. Records and music don’t just materialize out of thin air.
To complete the task, use a money-charging transfer service.
The proliferation and improvement of such services throughout the years have made this task more simpler than it formerly was. These can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, including desktop computers running Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. They typically have free and premium tiers. However, subscription plans allow you to quickly and easily relocate whole libraries, whereas the free tiers may only allow you to move one playlist at a time.
That’s how it is with Free Your Music. For a one-time price of $15, you can bring across as many songs, playlists, and albums as you like. A premium or lifetime subscription unlocks additional features, such as cloud-based playlist storage, cross-platform music synchronization, and social media integration. In other words, you may switch to Apple Music while still keeping your Spotify account active, and the two services will sync together.
Some of Soundiiz’s best features are also locked behind a paywall. Using the free Spotify plan as an example, you can only import playlists you’ve made yourself, not Spotify’s selected ones. Each playlist can only include 200 songs or less, and you can only transfer one playlist at a time. If you’re willing to shell up $4.50 monthly or $36 annually, you may remove these limits and have much more control over how you curate or prepare the information you’re migrating.
Like this, Tune My Music takes a similar tack. If you wish to keep your Apple Music and Spotify playlists in sync but are on the free tier, you will be limited to 1,000 tracks and will not have the option to sync anything. Unlimited conversions and automated syncs are available for $4.50 per month or $24 per year.
