Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming services available to everyone. Despite competition from Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Prime, Spotify stood alone with over 140 million paid subscribers. The service has superior algorithms, a group session plugin, and even the ability to upload your own music library to Spotify. You may want to upload your music library to get better recommendations.
Spotify offers the ability to upload your music to your library on one device, and that music will be available on any Spotify-friendly device you own.
Although Spotify offers a large music library, sometimes the songs you are looking for cannot be found. One of the unique aspects of Spotify is that it blends a typical music streaming service with the playback of music you have stored on your own PC.
In this article, we will talk about how to upload music to Spotify using the desktop app. Lets start.
limitations
Before we get started, let me clear up a few things about the Spotify upload functionality.
- You need a Spotify Premium account subscription to use it – the ad-supported version won’t play your personal tracks.
- Spotify’s Local Files feature doesn’t actually upload your songs to the cloud. Instead, Spotify lets you specify which folders or locations on your device contain your personal music, and then provides the ability to sync those tracks to another Spotify-enabled device over a Wi-Fi network.
In short, the whole process is not as smooth and powerful as hoped.
Upload Local Files to Spotify
All syncing of tracks is a one-way process from desktop to all other devices. To load local files, you need to use the Spotify desktop app on Windows or Mac. Follow the steps below to upload local files to Spotify.
Stage 1: First, download and install the Spotify desktop app on Windows or Mac.
Step 2: Open the app and tap Spotify in the menu bar and open Preferences.
Stage 3: Scroll down to the Local Files menu and enable the option.
Step 4: From the Show Songs option below, click the ‘Add source’ menu.
Step 5: You can select a folder and add tracks.
Repeat this step for all folders located in different parts of your computer. If everything is under one folder, you should add the main folder where all your music is and let Spotify work its magic.
Where Are My Local Files
You can find local files under the Spotify playlists menu. On the left you will find the Your Library menu and below that you will see the Local Files option. Users can see the total number of songs and total playing time.
There is a limitation. When you browse Local Files, not all your songs are listed – there’s a good chance your music isn’t in one of the formats Spotify supports. Only MP3, MP4 and M4P files are compatible with the Local Files feature. That leaves anyone who has a large collection of FLAC or chooses to rip their CDs using Apple’s lossless ALAC format.
Add Local Files to Spotify Playlist
If you want to sync your local songs between devices, you need to add them to your Spotify Playlists. Follow the steps below to add local files to Spotify playlist.
Stage 1: Open the Spotify app on your Windows or Mac.
Step 2: Go to Your Library > Local Files.
Stage 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.
Step 5: Select Spotify playlist to add songs.
These playlists, in effect, act like sync lists so Spotify doesn’t take up too much space to store your music on each device if you only want a few. Playlists are your way of specifying which tracks you want on your other devices.
To sync these local files in your mobile Spotify app, you need to make sure that both the desktop and mobile Spotify account are the same, and more importantly, both are on the same Wi-Fi network.
If everything went as described, you will see the local files added in the Spotify mobile app. Download them to your device and you’ll be able to listen to them wherever you go.
Use Spotify Like a Pro
So you upload your music to Spotify and add it to your library for better recommendations. You can also stream these songs on other devices instead of manually searching for them. Spotify’s local files feature is a must-have for power users. However, it comes with certain limitations. But once you get over that, you’ll be able to enjoy all your local files with a huge Spotify library.
Next: Want to master Spotify on desktop? Read the next post below to learn the ten best Spotify keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac.
