How to Upload Your Music Library to Spotify

How to Upload Your Music Library to Spotify

Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming services available for everyone. Despite competition from Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Prime, Spotify has held up with over 140 million paying subscribers. The service boasts of superior algorithms, a group session add-on, and even the ability to upload your own music library to Spotify. You might want to download your music library for better recommendations.


Download Music for Spotify

Spotify provides the ability to download your music to your library on one device, and that music will be available on any Spotify-compatible device you own.

Although Spotify has a large music library, sometimes you will find that the songs you are looking for are not available. One of the unique aspects of Spotify is that it combines a typical streaming music service with playing music that you have stored on your own PC.

In this article, we will explain how to download music to Spotify using the desktop app. Let’s start.

Limits

Before we start, let me clarify a few things about the Spotify download feature.

  • You need a Spotify Premium account subscription to use it – the ad-supported version will not play your personal tracks.
  • Spotify’s Local Files feature doesn’t actually upload your songs to the cloud. Instead, Spotify lets you indicate which folders or locations on your device contain your personal music, and then gives you the option to sync those tracks with another Spotify-enabled device over a Wi-Fi network.

In short, the whole process is not as transparent and powerful as one would hope.

Upload Local Files to Spotify

All track syncing is a one-way process, from the desktop to all other devices. You will need to use the Spotify desktop app on Windows or Mac to download local files. Follow the steps below to upload local files to Spotify.

Step 1: First, download and install the Spotify desktop app on Windows or Mac.

2nd step: Open the app and tap Spotify in the menu bar, then open Preferences.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Local Files menu and activate the option.


Spotify local files

Step 4: In the Show songs from option below, click the “Add Source” menu.

Step 5: You can choose a folder and add tracks.


Add local files

Repeat this step for all the folders that are in different parts of your computer. If everything is in one folder, you need to add the main folder with all your music and let Spotify do its magic.

Where are my local files

You can find the local files in the Spotify playlists menu. On the left side you’ll find the Your Library menu, and underneath you’ll notice the Local Files option. Users can see the total number of songs and the total cumulative playing time.


View local files

There is a limitation. Not all of your songs are listed when you browse local files – chances are your music is not in one of the formats supported by Spotify. Only MP3, MP4 and M4P files are compatible with the Local Files function. This leaves it up to anyone who has a large FLAC collection or those who have chosen to rip their CDs using Apple’s lossless ALAC format.

Add Local Files to Spotify Playlist

If you want to sync your local songs across multiple devices, you need to add them to your Spotify playlists. Follow the steps below to add local files to Spotify playlist.

Step 1: Open the Spotify app on your Windows or Mac.

2nd step: Go to Your Library> Local Files.

Step 3: Here you will see all the local files added in the Spotify app.

Step 4: Tap the three-dot menu next to any song and select Add to playlist.


Add local files to the playlist

Step 5: Choose Spotify playlist to add songs.

These playlists act like sync lists, in effect, so Spotify doesn’t take up a considerable amount of space to store your music on each device if you only want a few. Playlists allow you to indicate which of your tracks you want on your other devices.


Local files added

To sync these local files to your Spotify mobile app, you need to make sure that the Spotify desktop and mobile account is the same, and more importantly, they both need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

If everything goes as described, you will see local files added in the Spotify mobile app. Download them to your device and you can listen to them wherever you are.

Also on Guiding Tech

Use Spotify like a pro

This is how you upload your music to Spotify and add it to your library to get better recommendations. Also, you can stream these songs to other devices instead of searching for them manually. Spotify’s local files feature is a must for power users. However, this has certain limitations. But once you get over that, you’ll be enjoying all your local files with a huge Spotify library.

Then:

Looking to master Spotify on the desktop? Read the following article below to learn about the eleven best Spotify keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac.

Last updated on Dec 9, 2020

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