How to Cancel Spotify

How to Cancel Spotify

Mad about Spotify’s handling of the whole Joe Rogan situation? Want to put your dollars elsewhere but don’t know how to export your well-curated Spotify library to another service? We’ve got you covered.

Let’s back up: Spotify’s podcast darling, Joe Rogan, has landed the streaming service in the hot seat because he has allowed COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to go unchecked on his show. The Joe Rogan Experience is exclusive to Spotify, so to protest the streaming service’s lack of action, iconic artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have pulled their catalogues off of the platform to remove any association with the brand. More artists may follow suit. Here’s our explainer on that, if you want to read more.

If you want to take your own stand, you can cancel your Spotify subscription and export your playlists to a rival streaming service — Apple Music, Tidal, etc. — using a third-party app. At the very end of it all, you’ll have a complete list of every song that’s a part of your Spotify library. You can then take that to start your library over at Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, and even Napster, which is still streaming music! Note that you will have to give access to your Spotify library to do this.

How to Cancel Spotify

Spotify doesn’t really want you to cancel your account, so of course you can’t do so within its apps. Instead, you have to navigate to Spotify’s website. If you pay for a Premium account and want to cancel, go to your Spotify account page, then tap on Account overview and scroll down. Select Change plan. Scroll down the entire page of available plans and select Cancel Premium. Spotify will ask if you’re sure. Select Yes, cancel to move forward.

If you want to completely eliminate your Spotify account and all of its data, you’ll have to contact Spotify’s customer support online or send an email using this form (PDF link) to breakup@spotify.com.

Export Your Library on iPhone

If you’re looking to go directly to Apple Music from Spotify, your best bet is to download and install SongShift from the App Store. SongShift supports total library transfers and lets you choose where to dump the files directly. The app has been well-reviewed by users, though it can be a tedious process if you stay on the free tier. SongShift limits each playlist transfer to 100 songs maximum, which might not vibe with your Super Long Playlist for Sleeping. In that case, you can pay $US5 (which will show up on your bank account at around $7) for a month’s worth of SongShift, then cancel it when you’ve finished migrating over.

We’ve got a step-by-step guide on how to use SongShift to port your Spotify playlists over here.

Export Your Library on Android

Android users can use an app called Soundiiz, which will bring over your playlists, album list, artists, and favourite tracks to a whole host of other streaming platforms. Soundiiz says it supports more than 40 different services, including Deezer and Pandora. However, its free tier is limited, and you’ll want to upgrade to Premium for $US4.50 (around $6)/month if you’re hoping to bring over your entire collection, playlists and all.

Soundiiz will share your public playlists by default with its Explore feed within its app. You can disable that in the settings panel.

If Soundiiz’s three-star Play Store rating leaves you a little underwhelmed, there’s also FreeYourMusic, which works on iOS, too. It’s a much simpler app in terms of interface, and it offers unlimited song transfers. FreeYourMusic also has a paid tier, starting at $US14 (so about $20) for lifetime updates, or $US4.17 (around $6)/month billed at $US50 ($69)/year, and that includes cloud backup of your playlists, ensuring you can quickly jump ship anytime the next streaming service lets you down.

FreeYourMusic offers a free tier for Android users.  (Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo)
FreeYourMusic offers a free tier for Android users. (Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo)

How to Export Your Library on Your Laptop

Some of us like to take the long road to get where we’re going. If that’s you, or maybe you want a flat-out list of songs you’ve got pinned to your Spotify library, try TuneMyMusic. It’ll even export a text file or CSV for you to take to other apps or stash away safely in a folder on your computer.

FreeYourMusic offers an alternative desktop app for Mac and Windows. Soundiiz offers a web app that also lets you transfer playlists using your computer, and it’s an easier way to deal with its overwhelming interface. And for an effortless two-click export of your playlists, check out Exportify, which spits out track listings in CSV format.

TuneMyMusic made me this neat text file of all my liked Spotify songs. (Screenshot: Florence Ion / Gizmodo)
TuneMyMusic made me this neat text file of all my liked Spotify songs. (Screenshot: Florence Ion / Gizmodo)

Don’t forget that once you “move” your playlists, they’ll still exist over at Spotify, even if you stop paying. If you’re ready to burn the bridge, scroll back up to find out how to close your account.