Getting started

How does a transfer work?

On this page7 sections ▾

A transfer copies music from one service to another. Free Your Music reads your playlists and songs on the service you are leaving, finds the same songs on the service you are moving to, and adds them there.

The three steps

How a transfer works

  1. Connect the source. Pick the service you are moving from and sign in. Free Your Music reads your library from it.
  2. Connect the destination. Pick the service you are moving to and sign in there too.
  3. Pick what to move. Select the playlists and collections you want, then choose "Start transfer". Free Your Music matches every song and adds it to the destination.

Your first transfer, step by step walks through each screen.

Does Free Your Music copy or move my music?

It copies. The service you are leaving is only read, never changed, so your old playlists stay exactly where they were. You can keep both services or cancel the old one whenever you like.

How are songs matched?

Every service has its own catalogue, so the same song has a different ID on each one. Free Your Music searches the destination for each song. It looks the song up by its ISRC recording code where the service supports it, and otherwise compares the title, the artist and the album to pick the best match.

Most songs match on their own. When a song is not in the destination catalogue, it shows as "Could not match". When Free Your Music is unsure, it shows a match score and puts the song in your songs to check. You can fix any match yourself with "Use this match", for free. How matching works explains the details.

Is the playlist order kept?

Yes, where the destination service lets apps arrange songs in a playlist. On services that only allow adding songs, the order can differ. Song order lists the services that keep it.

How long does it take?

It depends on the size of your library and on how fast each music service lets apps read and add songs. A very large library takes longer, because the services limit how many requests an app may send. The transfer runs on our servers, so you can close the app or the browser tab while it runs. How long does a transfer take? explains what speeds it up and what slows it down.

Want to know what happens if you pause, cancel or close the app? See Pause, resume, cancel and closing the app.

What do I see when it is done?

Each transfer has its own page. It lists every song with a status, such as "Matched", "Could not match" or "Check", and "Check songs" takes you through the songs that need a look. Song and transfer statuses explains each one.

Frequently asked questions

Will Free Your Music delete my playlists from the old service?

No. The source service is only read. Nothing is removed or changed there.

Will a transfer remove songs I already have on the new service?

Not by default. A transfer makes new playlists and adds to your library, and the songs already there stay. Only when you pick one of your existing playlists as the destination does Free Your Music replace the songs in that playlist. Force recreate also empties the destination, liked songs included, before it adds the songs again. After that, only auto-sync removes a song, and only one that you removed from the source.

Why are some songs missing after a transfer?

A song can be missing when the destination does not have it in its catalogue, for example because of licensing in your country. Open the transfer: these songs show "Could not match". Missing songs and export shows what you can do.

Can I use the same account as source and destination?

No. An account that is already the source shows "Already the source" when you choose the destination. Pick a different account or a different service.

Still have a question? Contact support and we will help.

Related articles

Contact

Still stuck?

Write to our support team at support@freeyourmusic.com. Tell us your platform and what you tried.

Fastest: from the app

  1. Account
  2. Help and support
  3. Write to support

The email then contains your platform, the app version and your account ID, so we can help sooner.

Real people read every email. Paid plans get priority support.