Title: Soundiiz: The User-Friendly Solution for Cross-Platform Playlist Transfer
As a seasoned journalist and editor, I was intrigued by the recent development of a simple yet effective tool designed to facilitate the transfer of playlists between Apple Music and Spotify. This innovative tool, developed by two friends, has managed to bridge the gap left by the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI) and its limitations in supporting the world’s most popular music service.
Last year, I experienced the frustration of losing all my playlists upon switching from Apple Music to Spotify. The lack of ease in transferring playlists across platforms has been a significant inconvenience for many users. However, Apple Music’s new playlist transfer tool, created through the DTI, offers a promising solution, albeit with one notable drawback—it doesn’t work with Spotify.
Chris Riley, the executive director of the DTI, expressed his disappointment with Big Tech’s lock-in policies and his efforts to encourage more companies to adopt data portability. Despite the DTI’s limitations, Riley recommended using Soundiiz, a free third-party tool, for transferring playlists between Apple Music and Spotify.
Soundiiz, founded in 2013 by Thomas Magnano and Benoit Herbreteau, is a remarkable example of how a simple idea can lead to a valuable tool. The two friends, who loved listening to music while coding together, set out to create a music search interface with inputs from all over the web. Their journey led them to develop a playlist transfer tool that has since become Soundiiz.
The user-friendly interface of Soundiiz makes it easy to connect your streaming services and transfer playlists between Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, SoundCloud, and 20 other streaming services. This versatility has made Soundiiz a popular choice among users looking to maintain their music libraries across different platforms.
Magnano shared that the inspiration for Soundiiz came from their own need to transfer playlists between services. I had to manipulate APIs and test match between services. While doing this, I created playlists and moved them between services, just for myself internally, he said. I presented this feature to my colleague, and we thought, ‘Oh, it’s useful for me; maybe it is useful for someone else.’
Soundiiz’s partnership with Tidal in 2015 further boosted its popularity, as the music platform sought to make it easier for users to switch from Spotify to Tidal while keeping their playlists intact. Magnano emphasized that they ensured Tidal allowed people to export playlists as well, not just import them, as they require of any music service API they work with.
Today, Soundiiz has become a full-time job for its creators, who continue to maintain their commitment to user-friendly, versatile, and affordable playlist transfer solutions. Their story serves as an excellent example of how passion and innovation can lead to a valuable tool that benefits countless users worldwide.
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