Q: Can I download Spotify playlist to external hard drive for backup? In order to do this process, Spotify asks me to upgrade my account. But after I subscribed to Spotify premium plan, Spotify prompted me that I was not allowed to do so. What the hell is going on here?
To avoid losing favorite digital audio files because of sudden hard drive crash or virus infection, the best way is to back up Spotify music collection to external hard devices. Well, what should we do? In this article, we will explore the possible way to transfer music from Spotify to external drive.
Part 1. Can You Download Spotify Songs to External Drive
Spotify is a music streaming service that allows users to access millions of songs on-demand. While it is possible to download Spotify songs for offline listening, these downloads are stored within the Spotify app and cannot be transferred to an external drive.
One reason for this limitation is that the downloaded songs are encrypted by digital rights management to prevent unauthorized access. Another reason is that Spotify music downloads are cached files, which means you can't easily copy or move them to another device or storage location.
Part 2. How to Transfer Music from Spotify to External Drive - Best Tool
First of all, you need to remove the format lock of Spotify songs to bypass Spotify download limit. How to do it? AudFree Spotify Music Converter offers you this opportunity. It uses innovative decryption technology to help you download all Spotify content to your computer locally, whether you use a Spotify free or premium account.
What's more, it has the ability to permanently break the format protection of Spotify songs as it can convert Spotify music to common audio files including MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, M4A and M4B. Then it couldn't be easier to save Spotify songs to external hard drive and other devices and players.
AudFree Spotify Music Converter
How to Download Spotify Offline Song Storage to External Drive
The following tutorial focuses on how to remove lock from Spotify music library and transfer converted unprotected Spotify audio files to external hard drive with the help of smart AudFree Spotify Music Converter.
- Step 1Import Spotify music or playlist to AudFree SpoDable
- Open AudFree Spotify Music Converter on your PC and it will launch Spotify app automatically. Whether you subscribe to the Spotify free or premium plan, you can start to discover favorite Spotify music and then drag and drop it to the conversion window. Or copy and paste the link of Spotify songs to the search box directly, then press the 'Add' button.
- Step 2Adjust output format and other audio parameters
- In general, AudFree SpoDable will keep MP3 as Spotify output format by default. If you'd like to define other audio formats, please click the top menu bar to choose 'Preferences' > 'Convert' option to open the setting window, where you can not only adjust output format as FLAC, WAV, AAC, M4A and M4B, but also customize the output folder, bit rate, sample rate, audio codec, etc. to enhance Spotify output audio quality. If you'd like to download Spotify songs to external hard drive directly, you can just set destination folder as external drive in this step before downloading.
- Step 3Remove Locks from Spotify music
- When all settings done completely, you can press the 'Convert' button at the bottom-right corner of the main interface to launch converting mode and bypass Spotify download limit. And then you will see the converting process in the window. After conversion, you can click the 'History' icon to locate unprotected common Spotify music.
- Step 4Put Spotify music on external hard drive
- If you did not set up the output folder as an external hard drive before, you can now connect your external hard drive to your computer via USB cable. After that, you can an sync Spotify music library to the folder of external hard drive for backup via 'copying&pasting' action or 'dragging&dropping' action.
Part 3. How to Add Songs from External Hard Drive to Spotify
You can follow the above method to burn Spotify songs onto an external hard drive very well. Additionally, you may want to add songs from external hard drive to Spotify as it is a great way to expand your music library and enjoy your favorite songs. Then you can easily access your music library on Spotify and create Spotify playlists. To add local files to Spotify from external hard drive, follow these steps.
Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to your computer.
Step 2. Open the Spotify app on your PC, Click on the Edit menu and select Preferences.
Step 3. Scroll down to the Local Files section and click on Add a Source.
Step 4. Browse for the folder where you saved the downloaded songs on your external hard drive and click on OK.
Step 5. The songs in the folder will now be added to your local files in Spotify.
Step 6. You can now create a new playlist and add the songs from your local files to it.
Part 4. In Conclusion
Transferring Spotify playlists to external hard drive can be a great way to backup your music or free up space on your computer. While Spotify doesn't offer a built-in feature for this, using AudFree Spotify Music Downloader can make the process easy and straightforward. Once you have moved Spotify music to your external drive, you can easily enjoy Spotify music offline on any device.
Charles Davis
Chief Editor
