Apple is rolling out its music transfer tool to nearly every country where Apple Music is available, making it easier for users to bring their playlists and libraries over from rival services like Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Tidal. The feature, developed in partnership with SongShift, has been gradually expanding since its initial rollout in Australia and New Zealand in May, then to the U.S. and several other regions in August. With this wider release, the tool is now accessible almost globally, with exceptions including Mainland China, Myanmar, and Russia.
Switching music services has long been hampered by the hassle of manually recreating playlists, which often discourages users from moving platforms. Apple’s transfer option addresses that barrier by allowing songs, albums, and user-created playlists to be imported directly into Apple Music. The process can be started on an iPhone or iPad by navigating to Settings > Apps > Music > Transfer Music from Other Services. Once users select their current streaming provider and sign in, Apple Music will generate matches in its catalog. If a direct match is unavailable, the system flags tracks as “Needs Review” and suggests alternatives.
It’s worth noting that the tool only supports playlists created by users themselves, not those curated by competing services. Additionally, while the transfer copies content into Apple Music, it doesn’t delete or alter the original playlists in the source service, meaning users can continue accessing them there if they wish.
For Apple, this expansion lowers the friction for potential subscribers who may have hesitated to switch due to large existing libraries. Given that playlist migration has historically been one of the biggest sticking points in moving between platforms, the feature could help Apple Music attract more users in an increasingly competitive streaming market.
Whether the convenience of transfers will be enough to sway listeners who remain loyal to Spotify or other rivals depends on broader factors such as pricing, exclusive content, and recommendation algorithms. Still, Apple’s global rollout of the tool signals a clear effort to make its service more accessible to those curious but reluctant to start from scratch.
