Moving your music from one streaming service to another is a simple process, but it usually relies a bit too much on third-party tools. There’s always the risk of these tools going out of business or breaking because your favorite streaming service changed its code to block them. That’s why Apple Music now officially supports porting your playlists to YouTube Music. This development was first spotted by MacRumors, and here’s how to take advantage of it.
The limitations of Apple’s official transfer method
While I’m happy to see Apple offer a way to send music to a competitor, I’m not fully convinced that this is the best way to transfer your music. This is because Apple Music only allows you to transfer playlists that you’ve created (including collaborative playlists). You can’t transfer curated playlists from Apple or other users, which can make it difficult to port over your entire library. I have over 50 playlists that I’ve painstakingly created on Apple Music, and while I’m excited to use this method to have a backup on YouTube Music, the rest of my library will be left in the dust.
You can get around these limitations by using one of these third-party services that will transfer your entire music library from one service to another, and for free. While you’re at it, you can also download this app that automatically backs up your Apple Music library.
How to transfer music from Apple Music to YouTube Music
Credit: Pranay Parab
You’re going to have to use a web browser here, since it doesn’t work from the Apple Music app. With that in mind, follow these steps:
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Go to Apple’s Data & Privacy page and log in to your Apple Account.
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Click Request to transfer a copy of your data.
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On the next page, Apple will check what you’d like to export. Select Apple Music playlists and click Next.
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The next page will show how many playlists you can transfer. Click Continue.
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In the pop-up, sign in to your YouTube Music account and allow Apple access to your Google account. Be sure to check the View and manage your YouTube Music data option.
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On the final page, click Confirm Export and the process will begin.
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When the transfer is complete, go to the Library tab in YouTube Music and you’ll see all your playlists there.
With this, your Apple Music playlists will have been successfully moved to YouTube Music. Remember that this is not a sync service. If you add or remove music from Apple Music after the transfer, they will not automatically show up in YouTube Music—you’ll have to transfer again to see them. Some music may also be unavailable on YouTube Music, which means those songs will be missing from your playlists.
