How to download songs on spotify on mac

So you’re a regular Spotify user, but you won’t have access to the internet for a while.  Is there a way to listen to Spotify music offline? Where does Spotify store offline music on a Mac?

And can you share the music files? I went digging through my Mac’s folders, and what I found might surprise you. First of all, make sure that you have Spotify Premium, or you won’t be able to download playlists.

As it turns out, the folder location has changed a number of times over the years. The files for offline music on a Mac will be located in this directory:

/Users/”yourusername”/Library/Application Support/Spotify/PersistentCache/Storage

If you’re running out of disk space, deleting the files in Spotify’s cache folder can help clear up a significant amount of storage. Just remember, if you delete the cache, you will have to re-download the music.

How to Download Spotify Music:

To download Spotify music, open the app, select a playlist, and switch the download toggle on. You’ll see a green arrow pointing down when the playlist has been downloaded.

To see which of your playlists are available offline, open Spotify and select Offline Mode. In Offline mode, the playlists that have not been downloaded will be greyed out.

Since Spotify only allows you to download playlists, the cache folder can get quite large after a few downloads. It’s not unusual for Spotify to take 30 GBs or more of storage.

So now that you know where Spotify stores offline music, can you open or transfer the files?

Look:

The thing with Spotify is the offline music files are encrypted and tied to the device and account you originally downloaded them on. They won’t even be formatted as music files.

While you can “see” the files on your local storage, they’re basically useless because you can’t open them.

Can You Transfer Offline Spotify Playlists to Another Device?

So you downloaded a lot of Spotify playlists on your Mac and you’re wondering if you can simply copy the offline music files to a different device. For example, maybe you want to move a playlist from your Mac to your iPhone, or vice versa.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to transfer offline Spotify playlists from one device to another. Spotify files are tied to a single Spotify account and device and cannot be shared with others. You will need to download the playlists on the other device one at a time.

Note:

There are some third-party apps that let you download Spotify music as audio files. However, I do not recommend those programs because technically it is illegal to download songs from Spotify because you do not own the copyrights.

Also, another important point is Spotify will automatically delete your downloaded playlists if you do not connect to the internet at least once within 30 days. The reason for that is Spotify needs to track how many times the music was played in order to compensate the artists.

You only need to let Spotify connect to the internet once within 30 days to refresh the countdown.

Can You Share Offline Spotify Playlists?

You can’t share Spotify’s offline playlist files with other members, but you can share a link to the online playlist. To share a playlist, click on a playlist, click on the three dots next to the play button, and select Share.

From there, choose the way that you want to share the playlist and send it to your friend. In most cases, the Copy Playlist Link option is the most convenient. If you open the link on a mobile device, Spotify should open the playlist.

Can I Download Spotify Offline Playlists to an External Hard Drive?

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to save a Spotify offline playlist to an external hard drive. The reason is Spotify needs to sync the files with their servers every 30 days to compensate artists.

Conclusion:

If you’re planning a getaway, what you can do is use Spotify’s offline mode to download your favorite playlists.

Make sure the same playlists are downloaded on each of the devices you plan to bring with you. For example, you will have to download it once on your Mac, and then again on your phone.

Just remember, if you don’t connect the devices to the internet within 30 days, all the offline playlists will be deleted from your devices.

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Most people would agree that not only the era of buying CDs is over but even buying individuals songs or albums digitally. Why spend $9.99 on an album when you can get a nearly unlimited amount of music streamed to all of your devices for the same price?

No wonder music streaming services are booming. There's Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, SoundCloud, and more. But, by far, the biggest player in this industry today is Spotify, which is available in over 90 countries and boasts a sizable library of 60 million songs. 

So how to play Spotify on Mac? How to download Spotify on Mac? How to update Spotify on Mac? How to download music from Spotify? You can find answers to all these questions and more in our handy guide below. 

Why Use Spotify For Mac

Spotify has a lot of things going for it. The library of songs is enormous and updated daily with all the new releases. Since the service has signed agreements with every major label, you can find any songs or albums pretty much since the start of music recording, from the Beatles to Lil Wayne.

If you're not sure what music to play, Spotify makes it easy too, suggesting you radio, playlists, charts, new releases, and more — all based on your preferences. The more you listen the more accurately Spotify identifies what else you might be interested in. 

The Spotify app for Mac also connects you to your Facebook friends, so you can see what others are listening to and discover new music that way. Besides, Spotify has by now become a powerful player in the podcast world, featuring lots of exclusives, such as Joe Rogan Experience and The Michelle Obama Podcast. 

Can you download music from Spotify? Of course! You can download Spotify songs, albums, playlists, and podcasts until you run out of storage space on your device. For the app itself, you can get a Spotify download for Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows. 

Let’s see how to download Spotify on Mac, in particular. 

How to download Spotify on Mac

While Spotify has a web app for online listening, there are quite a few reasons to actually get a Spotify download for Mac instead, the most important of which is the ability to download Spotify songs for offline listening. 

Here’s how you can download Spotify for Mac: 

1. Visit spotify.com
2. Click Download in the top menu
3. In the pop-up bar, click Allow for the Spotify download to start
4. In your Downloads folder, unzip the Spotify installer
5. Double-click on the installation file and go through the process

Now you can access Spotify from your Applications folder like any other app and even put it in your Dock. 

In the rare case you find that Spotify won't open on Mac, put the current version in the Trash and simply download a new one from the website, repeating the process above. 

Tips for using Spotify on Mac

Once you get the Spotify app for Mac, using it is rather intuitive. But there are some tricks. For example, you can’t download Spotify songs and albums directly, but you can download playlists. So you need to either add albums and songs to specific playlists (you can create as many as you want) or you can like songs using the heart icon and then download the automatic Liked Songs playlist. To download, just switch the Download toggle above any playlist.

Since Spotify tends to launch every time you turn on your Mac, a lot of people wonder how to stop Spotify from opening on startup Mac. To do so: 

1. Go to Spotify Preferences (⌘ + ,)
2. Scroll all the way down and click Show Advanced Settings
3. Find Startup and Window Behavior and switch the dropdown to No

Another must-use feature is the Spotify equalizer Mac usually ignores by default. In the same Preferences menu, find Normalize Volume under the Music Quality section and toggle it on. Now all songs will be of the same volume, and you won’t have to adjust your speakers for every track. 

Finally, not only can you playback Spotify on Mac, you can connect it to over 2,000 devices, such as smart speakers, TVs, gaming consoles, etc. To do that, make sure your devices are using the same WiFi network and then use the Devices Available menu at the bottom panel of your Spotify to connect them. 

How to use Group Session on Spotify

One of the latest features released in 2020 on Spotify has been the ability to create a group session. 

You know how when you’re at a party or dinner or office, and only one person has the control of the music playing on their device? Group Session is designed to make that music stream collaborative and give everyone an opportunity to pause, play, and add songs to the common queue. The feature is still in beta and is not available on Mac, but you can try it on your iPhone: 

1. When a song is playing, tap the Devices Available icon
2. Under “Start a group session,” choose Start Session
3. Invite your friends to join either by sending them links or by having them scan your code

Now you all control the same queue of songs without needing to use the same device and while being socially distant. A useful feature indeed!

How to achieve the best sound on Mac

As soon as you figure out how to play Spotify on Mac, you get instant access to more than 60 million songs. The next best thing you can do is fine-tune your audio setup to really enjoy your newly found unlimited music experience. 

Boom 3D is the most advanced audio enhancer for your Mac. This app features a range of high-quality sound boosting presets that you can also tweak manually to make any genre sound exactly as it meant to be, regardless of your speakers. Additionally, you can even turn on the 3D Surround Sound feature for your headphones for complete audiophile immersion. And if you find your Mac’s max volume too quiet, you can go past the hardware limit using one of Boom 3D’s most sought-after features.

How to focus with music on Mac

All the open-space offices, coworking spaces, and even construction sites next to your home destroy your focus when you need to get something important done. And if you put on your headphones and simply crank up the music, you could miss out on everything that’s useful going on around you. Is there a middle ground? 

Silenz is the perfect sound mixer for your Mac. As soon as you put on headphones (whether regular or wireless), this app will adjust your sound flow to the surrounding world, so you can stay focused without all the background noise but, at the same time, hear your phone ring or someone speaking to you. Silenz is compatible with any third-party media player or service, including Spotify, and works automatically, even without your direct involvement.

Now that you know how to download music from Spotify and some other tips for volume boosting with Boom 3D and sound mixing with Silenz, you can create your perfect audio environment in no time. 

Best of all, Boom 3D and Silenz are available to you free for seven days via the trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 200 powerful apps that augment your daily Mac experience, from create icons in seconds (Image2icon) to troubleshooting your WiFi coverage (NetSpot). Try them all at no cost and see how much better your life with apps can be.

Can I download Spotify music on my Mac?

How do I download songs to my Mac?