How to rescue your playlists from Spotify
Plus more good news about Qobuz Connect
Quite a few of you have taken advantage of Qobuz 60-day free trial for Stars After Stars After Stars readers, and some of you have written to tell me how much better you think Qobuz sounds compared to a Spotify subscription.
I repeat my point: I think that almost everyone will hear a difference, but some of you might decide that the audio improvement is dramatic enough for you to make the switch a permanent one. I understand that switching won’t be for everyone.
Moving from one streaming service to another isn’t as seamless as it could be, so I’m revisiting the topic and offering some suggestions for anyone who’s looking to move their playlists from one service to another. I also have some very good news about Qobuz Connect for anyone whose streamer is powered by the BluOS.
There’s a more detail why I like Qobuz and why the launch of Qobuz Connect is a big deal in Why Qobuz is your best streaming music value. I detailed my issues with the world’s largest streaming service in Stop using Spotify.
If you’ve been thinking about the Qobuz offer, click this link and enter an email address and Qobuz will email you a code good for a two-month free trial.
Blame the label industry
Unlike television and movie streaming services, music streamers can’t really distinguish themselves with a catalog of exclusive content. Everyone has the same basic catalog, so they have to compete on ease of use, recommendation algorithms, and audio quality. The ones with the biggest market share have zero motivation to make it easy for us to switch.
No music streamer could exist without the cooperation of the record companies who own the masters and the publishers who grant licenses for the songs. Leave aside the fact that the music industry blew it when it didn’t created its own cooperative digital distribution platform back in 2000.
I’m not sure why the people who run Sony or Universal or Warner or The Orchard don’t get together and insist that all of the streamers use some kind of neutral API that makes it possible for subscriber to control their own data (playlists, likes, listening history) and plug it into any service they choose to use at any time.
It’s hard to blame the streamers if they don’t volunteer to do this on their own, because it’s in direct conflict with their current business model. They’d have to go along with the concept if the rights holders insisted on it, and they’d adapt pretty quickly.
This issue complements the ongoing metadata disaster that plagues the entire entertainment industry (see How Streaming Distorts Music History). Fixing this will require industry leaders to prioritize what’s going to happen over the next few decades and not just think about next year’s profits, but all of this can be fixed.
That leaves the rest of us with a complicated and imperfect path when we choose to switch streaming services.
If you’re compulsive enough that you need to open Spotify (or whatever platform you’re leaving) next to Qobuz (or whatever platform you’re adopting) and painstakingly recreate everything by hand, I can certainly understand the impulse. Most of us don’t have the time or the patience for that kind of project
What are the options?
When you want move your playlists from one streaming service to another, you’re going to have to pay for a third-party app. Fortunately, someone wrote a detailed article for TechHive about the 5 most popular options: Done waiting for Spotify HiFi? These 5 apps will help you switch.
(Note: I think I remember some debate when this article was assigned about whether it was coming to late and would be made obsolete when Spotify introduced a version that matched the audio quality of the other streaming service. It’s been almost a year since I was assigned that piece.)
I ended up committing to SongShift and pay for the annual plan because I create working playlists for my box set projects in Apple Music and need to share them with co-workers who mostly use Spotify.
Side note
If anyone’s wondering, I use Qobuz for my personal listening. My iTunes/Apple Music algorithm is so polluted by a couple of decades of work projects that it’s ruined for personal listening. Apple Music is now used for research listening now that my recommendation algorithm is shot to hell.
People who were doing consulting work for iTunes back in the early aughts suggested that Apple allow add users to add a secondary library/listening identity for professional use so that we didn’t pollute our listening history. We even suggested charging $4.99/month for the privilege. Apple was just as stubborn back then as they are now about offering a single way to do things, one that worked for as many people as possible even if it came at the expense of the user experience for sophisticated or pro users.
Back on track
Apple Music and Spotify brag that they have the largest catalogs of any streaming service. That’s true, but it’s important to realize just what “largest” means and whether it matters to you.
Spotify’s catalog is larded with thousands (millions?) of work-for-hire, royalty-free tracks that it commissioned to reduce its royalty obligations to the artists who actually attract listeners to the platform. Liz Pelly has detailed this phenomenon grift in her excellent 2025 book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist.
As soundtrack music aficionados know, some library music is great. Compilations of Italian library music from the ’60s and ’70s feature a lot of amazing work by composers and musicians who got a one-time payment for their work.
I don’t automatically assume that all of Spotify’s commissioned music is terrible, even if most of it certainly is. My issue is Spotify’s indefensible stance that they don’t need to be transparent about what they’re doing. Maybe most people don’t care, but there are enough customers who would object that Spotify should disclose the practice. Give those royalty-free tracks a star or a checkmark and let everyone see how many of them are clogging up Spotify’s company-created playlists.
There used to be huge gaps between Spotify and the other streamers, but now the catalogs controlled by the majors and big independent distributors are available on pretty much any platform you choose. For the vast majority of listeners, there’s no difference between the catalogs of Spotify, Amazon Music HD, Deezer. Tidal, YouTube Music, Qobuz, and Apple Music.
Things can get hairy if your tastes run to self-released artists in more obscure genres. If they’re using a digital platform like TuneCore or DistroKid to distribute their music, artists have the opportunity to opt into over 100 different streaming platforms. Some artists don’t know about platforms besides Spotify and maybe Apple Music and hesitate to add their songs to platforms they don’t know.
I’ve written to several artists whose music was missing from Tidal or Qobuz and suggested they add their music to those services. Most of them have appreciated the suggestion, even if a couple of them needed a bit more explanation than you’d hope.
What it’s like to export a playlist
All of that is background for a few warnings about what it’ll be like for you to move your playlists from one platform to another.
Once you’ve subscribed to SongShift, you need to connect the app to both the music service you’re exporting from and the one where you’re adding your collection.
You then have the option of selecting albums and songs you’ve added to your library as well as the playlists you’ve subscribed to or created. I wouldn’t hesitate to do a full library transfer of all albums or songs since your destination service is likely to have the vast majority of your catalog available.
Playlists are where things can get a bit complicated, and I like to do them one at a time. While working on this post, I transferred the working playlist for an upcoming Southern Rock collection from Apple Music to Spotify. Of the 61 songs on the playlist, SongShift matched all of them on the first try. That was a bit unexpected and a welcome surprise. No problems there.
I then repeated the transfer from Apple Music to Qobuz. It matched 60 songs but wasn’t able to find the Cowboy song “A Patch & a Pain Killer.” The copyright is credited to Capricorn Records and there are several other Capricorn songs on the playlist that did make the transfer. Did someone neglect to check a box when they uploaded the 1975 Cowboy album Boyer & Talton? Probably, because the rest of their catalog is streaming on Qobuz.
Let me again emphasize that this is a fringe case. There will be issues if you want to move from Spotify to Apple Music and different issues if you move from Apple Music to Spotify. SongShift is the best solution to a nagging problem.
One important note: If have a playlist that you regularly update on one service and want to use SongShift to sync it with other services on a regular basis, I think you’re out of luck. I’ve updated playlists in Apple Music and then resynced them to Spotify via SongShift, I found that any new songs were added to the end of the old playlist on Spotify instead of at the position where I added them on Apple Music, plus any songs I’d deleted were from Apple Music were still on the Spotify playlist.
SongShift is great for one big transfer. If you’re doing a one-time move from one service to another, you’ll only need to spend $6.99 to subscribe for one month or $29.99 for a year. You can always resubscribe if you ever want to reverse the process or try yet another streamer.
There’s also a SongShift Pro version that I haven’t tried. For $9.99/month, $39.99/year, or a $59.99 one-time purchase, SongShift promises faster processing, no limits on library size, and the ability to merge playlists. I haven’t bumped up against any limits on the individual version, so I haven’t felt a need to use it. I’m considering the one-time Pro purchase, since $60 equals just two years of the $30 individual plan and I think I’ll still need to use SongShift for at least a couple of more years.
Bluesound Node vs. Qobuz Connect update
Update on the Bluesound Support Forum regarding Qobuz Connect:
Just a reminder of our current status, as mentioned here earlier in this thread by our BluOS Development Brand Manager.
I'll add that we have a large multi year project that is coming to a close soon. Once that is completed then Qobuz Connect is and was always next on the list. Connect models themselves take time to ensure quality, reliability and consistent audio. As we now have now over 90 devices in the platform there will be a significant testing cycle. Qobuz is a good partner of BluOS and Lenbrook, and we want to support both their new functionality and to offer it to you the folks that buy our products.
In speaking with Andrew this morning, we are expecting to deliver Qobuz Connect on over 90 different BluOS Devices covering 7 different industry brands, all certified by Qobuz, within about 90-120 days.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
I’ve heard from others that the Qobuz Connect compatibility is on target for a September release and that BluOS is not the only platform racing to make their devices compatible with the new feature.
If you’re not using a standalone streamer, Qobuz Connect won’t mean anything to you. Qobuz was my favorite streamer before they added this feature, and I still think they offer the best sound.
Yet another CD player to consider
Brent Butterworth just wrote a fascinating review of the $90 Syitren R300 portable CD player for the Wirecutter at the New York Times: Why I Bought My First New CD Player in 25 Years.
I’ve worked with Brent and think he’s an excellent writer with a far better mastery of technical details than I have. I usually agree with his taste in audio gear.
Syitren offers a truly modern take on the CD player, an approach that differs significantly from the FiiO and Moondrop units I wrote about in my How CDs help fight distracted listening post.
This unit doesn’t have a built-in amplifier, which Syrian hypes as a choice that prevents the mechanical vibration of the spin motor from interfering with the music reproduction. This is an issue that generates a ton of discussion at the top end one the CD market, but I’ve never seen anyone bring it up for a unit this inexpensive.
Instead, the Syitren R300 will connect to Bluetooth headphones or speakers for playback. That makes it easy to use in your car with a Bluetooth adapter or as a casual way to enjoy those CDs stored in your attic or garage.
Even better, the R300 has an optical output so you can use it as a CD transport by running an optical cable to a streaming DAC like the WiiM Pro Plus. This might be a perfect way to add a CD player if you’re already using a streaming DAC.
Keep me on the hamster wheel
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You’re not going to see me on social media because I’m still recovering from the beatings I took on the Velvet Rope back in the AOL days. I depend on word of mouth. Thanks for reading.
8-track of the day
