How to migrate iTunes library and Spotify music to Apple Music

Questions re. big shift from iTunes on PC to Apple Music


I'm taking the plunge and going all-streaming, i.e. me and my 8000-song iTunes library. iTunes on the PC is doomed. I'm wondering if I can pick your brains about these details:


  • Should I use Apple Music alone to manage the acquiring of all these songs, including music bought from iTunes, ripped from CDs and various other sources or should I consider something like SongShift? A lot of the reggae is pretty obscure.
  • Re. pulling from Spotify of all my collected music there, is Apple Music adequate for this or do people prefer SongShift, etc.?
  • Will both Apple and SongShift preserve the structure of my ~ 60 carefully-curated playlists?
  • Is there any point in not cancelling my subscription to Spotify after I transfer the songs and selected playlists?
  • Should I even keep iTunes on my PC? It's in its death throes, throwing error messages on logon and not getting me to the Store. An Apple rep told me it's toast.


I've been resisting this for a long time but I can't hold out any longer. Any guidance or wisdom would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Windows

Posted on Oct 23, 2026 7:25 PM

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1 reply

Oct 24, 2026 10:43 AM in response to Barry90039

In my experience Apple Music has done a great job of preserving my playlists from iTunes and from Spotify. It matches to its own digital library any songs that are present.


For my one of a kind music library files (rarities, digitized CDs, LPs, cassettes and other physical media) & purchased digital files, it uploaded these songs, and they continue to be available on all of my devices in the Apple Music app’s Library section (fka iTunes)—which is a pleasure.


When I play a song and it’s not the version I remember, if Apple Music is playing from some newer remaster or re-release, I can usually find the version I want at the bottom of the page under a header like “other versions” or “other releases”. And if not, it’s easy to jump over to my Library and find the version I’m looking for.


Do I still feel taken advantage of by being charged now $13 a month to have access to my music library from all of my devices at any time? Yes, a bit. Does gaining access to Apple Music’s vast library to check out anything I want soften the blow? Yes, a bit.


It’s worth mentioning here, I’m still not really sure what would happen to my music library, if I were to switch to a PC or Android, etc.


As a musician, I believe overall Apple is more respectful to artists than Spotify and fractionally more “generous” (remember, we’re talking about micropayments here), and as a consumer, I think they make a better product as well.

How to migrate iTunes library and Spotify music to Apple Music

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