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Guide

Switching From Spotify to Apple Music (or Back) Without Losing Your Listening History

Jan 4, 20267 min readBy mystats.music Editorial
Switching From Spotify to Apple Music (or Back) Without Losing Your Listening History

Switching music apps is easier than it's ever been. Both Spotify and Apple Music now have built-in tools that copy your playlists across in a few minutes.

What no tool moves is your listening history: years of play counts, your all-time top artists, every Wrapped or Replay you've had. That stays with the service you're leaving. The good news is you can download it and keep it, as long as you do it in the right order.

Here's how to switch either way without losing your stats.

Step 1: Download your listening history before you cancel

Do this first, while everything still works.

Leaving Spotify

  1. Go to your Account privacy page in a web browser.
  2. Under Download your data, tick Extended streaming history. Don't settle for Account data alone: according to Spotify, it only includes about the past year of streaming history, while the extended version covers your account's whole life, one row per play.
  3. Confirm the request from the email Spotify sends you.

Spotify says it can take up to 30 days, but it often arrives sooner. Our step-by-step guide has screenshots of each step.

Already cancelled Premium? You're probably fine. When you cancel Premium, Spotify moves you to the free plan instead of deleting your account, so you can still log in and request your data.

Closing your account completely is different. Spotify gives you 7 days to reactivate a closed account. After that, it starts deleting your data, and your history goes with it. If you want to close your account, request your data first and wait until you've downloaded it.

Leaving Apple Music

  1. Go to privacy.apple.com and sign in with your Apple Account.
  2. Choose Get a copy of your data, then select Apple Media Services.
  3. Submit the request.

Apple says it can take up to seven days. The file you want is called Play History Daily Tracks: it has your plays per song per day, going back years. Our Apple Music history guide shows you where to find it in the download. Request it before you cancel, so you're not depending on anything changing later.

Step 2: Move your playlists

Both companies now have an official way to bring your music over.

Spotify → Apple Music. Apple has a built-in Transfer Music tool. On iPhone, open Apple Music, tap your profile picture, go to Music Settings, then Transfer Music from Other Music Services. On the web, sign in at music.apple.com, click your profile picture, then Transfer Music. Sign in to Spotify, choose what to bring over, and tap Add to Library.

What Apple's tool moves:

  • songs, albums and playlists you made
  • your liked songs, which land in your Favorite Songs playlist

What it doesn't move: playlists Spotify made for you, like Discover Weekly or Daylist. If a song can't be matched exactly, you get 30 days to review it and pick an alternative. You need an active Apple Music subscription and Sync Library turned on.

Apple Music → Spotify. Spotify added a built-in import in November 2025, powered by TuneMyMusic. In the Spotify app, go to Your Library, scroll to the bottom, tap Import your music, then pick Apple Music and follow the prompts. Your original playlists stay where they are; Spotify just gets copies.

Tip: playlists you built yourself transfer well. The algorithm stuff (Discover Weekly, Release Radar, your Replay playlists) will rebuild itself on the new service as you listen, but it takes a few weeks to learn your taste again.

Step 3: Know what happens to Wrapped and Replay this year

Each recap only counts listening in its own app. They don't share data, and neither one imports your history from the other.

  • Spotify Wrapped counts your Spotify plays from January 1 until mid-November (how Spotify builds it). If you leave Spotify in June, your Wrapped will only cover January to June.
  • Apple Music Replay only counts what you play in Apple Music, and only on devices with Use Listening History turned on (Apple's Replay page). If you join in June, your Replay starts in June.

So in a switch year, both recaps will look a bit thin and probably a bit off. Your actual year is split across two services, and neither one sees the whole thing. Timing your switch matters if you care about it: moving in early January keeps one recap whole for the year.

Staying with Spotify until December so you get one last Wrapped? Make sure it's a good one: here's how to fix your Spotify Wrapped before the cutoff. Already moved? Here's how to keep your Apple Music Replay looking right.

Step 4: Keep both histories viewable

Once you've downloaded your history, you can still look through it any time, even after you've cancelled.

On mystats.music, Spotify and Apple Music each get their own dashboard. Upload your Spotify ZIP to see your all-time top artists, songs and albums, every year since you joined, and your listening habits. Upload your Apple Music export to see the same for your Apple years. The two stay separate (they're different kinds of data: Spotify logs every play, Apple logs daily totals), so you won't get one combined chart. But you can open both, pick the same timeframe, and see what each part of your year looked like.

It's free, there's no account, and the files are read in your browser, not uploaded to a server. Each export is saved in your own browser for 90 days so it opens straight away next time, and you can forget it whenever you want. Keep the original ZIP files somewhere safe too: they're your actual backup.

The main options and what they cost (US, October 2026)

If you're switching because of price, here's where things stand. Almost every service raised prices in 2026.

One thing to know before picking a service outside the big two: mystats can read Spotify and Apple Music exports only. Your Spotify or Apple history stays viewable either way, but listening on YouTube Music, Amazon or Tidal won't show up there.

Still deciding between the two big ones? We compared them for people who care about stats in Spotify vs Apple Music in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Will my play counts transfer to Apple Music or Spotify?

No. Transfer tools move songs, albums and playlists, not plays. Your play counts, top artists and past Wrapped or Replay stay with the old service, which is why you should download your history before you leave.

Can I still get my Spotify data after cancelling Premium?

Yes. Cancelling Premium moves you to the free plan, and your account stays open, so you can still request your Extended streaming history. If you close your account completely, Spotify starts deleting your data after 7 days.

Will my liked songs move over?

Moving to Apple Music, yes: liked songs go into your Favorite Songs playlist. Playlists Spotify generated for you, like Discover Weekly, don't transfer.

Can mystats combine my Spotify and Apple Music history?

No. Each service gets its own dashboard, because the data is so different. You can upload both and look at them side by side, but they aren't merged into one chart.

Should I switch in January?

If your recap matters to you, yes. Wrapped and Replay each count only their own app, so switching mid-year splits your year between two recaps.

Insight Tool

Keep your listening history after you switch

Upload your Spotify or Apple Music export and see your all-time top artists, songs and albums. Free, no login, and your history never leaves your device.

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