Switching from Apple Music to YouTube Music just got easier

(Image credit: Future)

Apple Music subscribers can now transfer their playlists to Google's YouTube Music service free of charge.

According to a new support document, users can log in with their Apple Account to a Data and Privacy page, where a new 'Transfer a copy of my Data' option allows users to move playlists from Apple Music to YouTube Music. However, Apple has made it clear that only playlists will be transferred, not the actual music tracks. This limitation is likely due to rights agreements that Apple and Google have with record companies. In addition, Google is also offering a tool to transfer playlists on YouTube Music back to Apple Music if you feel like you've made a mistake.

At present, there are no options to transfer playlists from Apple Music to other music services, such as Spotify and TIDAL. For now, YouTube Music is the only choice. Nevertheless, it's a handy feature for those who have been using YouTube's music service instead of Apple Music and want to save time by transferring a bunch of playlists over.

How to switch

Transferring your Apple Music playlists to YouTube is a simple affair. All you need to do is the following:

Go to Apple's Data and Privacy page, then sign in to your Apple ID account.
Select 'Transfer a copy of your data'.
Follow the onscreen instructions to complete your transfer request. To start the transfer, you’ll need to sign in to your YouTube Music account.
If done correctly, you'll receive a confirmation email from Apple, and your playlists will appear in YouTube Music in the Library tab.

And voila! All of your playlists will now appear on YouTube Music. You'll have to re-download the songs for offline play, remember. YouTube Music will try to match up any songs that are on its service, but if there's a track in a playlist that's not there but is available on Apple Music, it won't be included.

Once the transfer is complete, you'll be able to browse and edit your playlists in no time.

However, it's important to mention again that, if you want to go back to Apple Music with your playlists (mostly) intact, Google offers its own tool to do just that.

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Daryl is iMore's Features Editor, overseeing long-form and in-depth articles and op-eds. Daryl loves using his experience as both a journalist and Apple fan to tell stories about Apple's products and its community, from the apps we use every day to the products that have been long forgotten in the Cupertino archives.

Previously Software & Downloads Writer at TechRadar, and Deputy Editor at StealthOptional, he's also written a book, 'The Making of Tomb Raider', which tells the story of the beginnings of Lara Croft and the series' early development. His second book, '50 Years of Boss Fights', came out in June 2024, and has a monthly newsletter called 'Springboard'. He's also written for many other publications including WIRED, MacFormat, Bloody Disgusting, VGC, GamesRadar, Nintendo Life, VRV Blog, The Loop Magazine, SUPER JUMP, Gizmodo, Film Stories, TopTenReviews, Miketendo64, and Daily Star.