SAN ANTONIO – Joni Mitchell and Neil Young did it. They ditched Spotify, taking their music off the streaming service amid allegations that it was allowing COVID-19 misinformation to spread. Now, some listeners are also canceling their subscriptions. But what happens to your music?
If you want to cancel Spotify or any other streaming service for whatever reason, the good news is you can do so without losing your carefully curated playlists.
“Unfortunately, Spotify and other streaming services don’t provide an official way to move your playlists and other music around,” said Consumer Reports’ tech editor Thomas Germain.
There are a number of third-party apps and services that you can use to move those playlists to another streaming service.
For example, Soundiiz charges $4.50 a month, while Songshift costs $4.99 a month. Although they’re subscription services, you can cancel as soon as your transfer is done.
FreeYourMusic offers annual subscription plans, or you can pay a one-time fee of $14.99.
“When I did it, the process was pretty easy. It took a little while because I had a big library, but it wasn’t that hard to do,” Germain said.
Not every service offers the exact same content, so be sure to check your playlist to be sure your favorites transferred.
Also, remember to cancel the service you no longer want, so you don’t keep getting billed.