Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services that continues to expand and there are several reasons for that. You can enjoy this music streaming platform alone or with friends by creating collaborative playlists and sharing your favorite songs. For worried parents, Spotify has a kid-friendly mode to keep your kids safe. Finally, as a new artist, you can send your music to Spotify.
However, there is one nifty little-known trick that will change your Spotify user experience forever. Not many users know that you can upload your own music to Spotify. Learn how to play local files from your computer on Spotify and why you might want to.
Why upload music to Spotify?
Spotify’s library is huge. The app offers over 50 million tracks. However, you may come across tracks that are not on Spotify. If you see that a specific track or album is missing from the platform, this is probably due to a copyright conflict.
The easy way out is to buy this track or album elsewhere and upload it to Spotify. This feature is also useful if you already have a sizable music collection on your device besides Spotify. You can add your own “local” files to your Spotify music library and use the app to listen to them on any of your devices.
Before downloading music
Before you make Spotify your universal music player, make sure you have the following ready:
Computer with music library
First things first, you’ll need a computer with downloaded music files. Right now, you can only upload your music to Spotify albums from your computer. This is a reasonable requirement as there is more storage space on your computer, so you are more likely to store music there rather than on your smartphone or other devices.
Spotify Desktop App
You need to install the free Spotify app on your PC desktop to be able to upload local files to your Spotify music library.
Spotify Premium
Finally, you need a paid Premium subscription to be able to download music to Spotify. It also makes sense as one of the key features of Spotify Premium is the ability to download music for offline listening.
How to add your own music to Spotify
To upload music to Spotify, follow these steps:
- Open Spotify on your desktop.
- Click the down arrow next to your Spotify username and select Settings.
- Scroll down the Settings page to Local Files. Turn on Show Local Files.
- You will now see the local files appear in the “Your Library” section on the left side of the screen.
- In the Show Songs From section, you can choose different locations to download your music files, such as Downloads, iTunes, My Music, etc. Any options can be turned on and turn off depending on what files you want to see in your Spotify library.
Spotify supports music files in .mp3, .m4p, and .mp4 formats.
How to add local music to Spotify playlists
After you have added the locations with local music files to Spotify, you can start adding local music to your Spotify playlists.
- First go to Local Files, find the tracks you want to add to the playlist and highlight them.
- Right-click or click the three horizontal dots to the right of the track name. Select Add to Playlist.
- You can add a track to an existing playlist or create a new one by clicking New Playlist.
Then you can edit your playlist, make it shared or secret, download or delete it.
How to listen to playlists offline
How to listen to playlists offline
After adding local music to Spotify albums and playlists, you can download them for offline listening on Spotify.
To download tracks for offline listening, first grab the device you want to use to listen to Spotify – be it a smartphone, computer, or other. Navigate to the playlist that contains your local files and find the Download radio button. Once enabled, you can download tracks and listen to them offline.
If you run into trouble at this point, please make sure you are signed in to the same Spotify account on your computer and smartphone. Make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Finally, check if your Spotify app is up to date. You should now be ready to go.
Get the most out of Spotify
While many users prefer Spotify to other music streaming services, few are aware of the app’s hidden features, such as the ability to upload their own music to Spotify albums. Whether you have a premium paid or free subscription, Spotify has many little-known benefits that can improve your user experience and help you do more with the app.
Would you use Spotify to listen to local music files? What other handy Spotify features have you come across while using the app? Share your personal Spotify tips in the comments section below.
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