How to Add Local Files to Apple Music on Multiple Devices

"Hello, I'm new to Apple Music and have some questions about what it has to offer. I have a large number of MP3 files that I would want to add to my Apple Music library. Is it possible to add local files to Apple Music? What are my choices in this situation?" – User from Reddit.

Apple Music is an excellent app for listening to music. The elegant and clear UI has won many users' praises. You can stream over 90 million songs, albums, and podcasts from Apple Music. Apple Music now also support Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio to improve the listening experience of users. And it's convenient for you to add your music files from local to Apple Music to build up your own music library.

To add local files to Apple Music, you may follow the guides below. Here we'll show you detailed steps to add audio to Apple Music. Before we start, if you are a Windows user, make sure you have downloaded iTunes on your desktop. To play local files with Apple Music on your phone, you need to subscribe to Apple Music. Then you can sync the library from the computer to your phone.

Part 1. How Can You Put Local Files to Apple Music?

Apple Music's most platforms have local files import support, allowing users to put their own local music files to iTunes, Music app easily on their PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod devices. For starters, ensure you have downloaded and installed the Apple Music app to the devices above. Then, prepare your local music files well by ensuring they are in a supported format with Apple Music, such as MP3, M4A or AAC (unprotected). If your files are in a different format, you may need to convert them using a third-party audio conversion tool.

Can You Put Local Files to Apple Music for Android?

While Apple devices users have the ability to put local files to the Music app and play them offline as downloaded music, Apple Music on Android does not support the direct import of local files into the app. The Apple Music app is primarily designed as a music service for streaming and accessing the extensive Apple Music catalog on your Android devices, and don't act as a media player that supports local files playback.

However, if you want to play local files on your Android device, you can try to use a third-party media player. Some popular options include Poweramp, BlackPlayer or VLC media player for Android. These apps provide advanced music playback features and support for local files.

Part 2. How to Put Local Files to Apple Music on Mac/PC

To add local files to Apple Music, you may follow the guides below. Here we'll show you detailed steps to add audio to Apple Music. Before we start, if you are a Windows user, make sure you have downloaded iTunes on your desktop. To play local files with Apple Music on your phone, you need to subscribe to Apple Music. Then you can sync the library from the computer to your phone.

In the Music App for Mac: Import Local Files

1. Open the Music app on your Mac that runs the macOS Catalina or later.

2. Choose File in the Apple menu, and select Add To Library or File/Import.

3. Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want in the Finder sidebar, then click Open in the lower-right corner of the window. If you choose a folder, all the compatible files it contains will be added to the Music app.

4. The Music app will scan and add all the compatible files to the library.

5. Choose the Recently Added tab in the sidebar and check for the local files you add to Apple Music. Alternatively, you can search for any added local file in your library from the Search bar.

Once you have added a selection of local files to the Music app on your Mac, you can play, shuffle it both online and offline with the in-app playback control. If you have other Apple devices such as iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you can choose to sync them to the Music app.

You can also find the imported files locally in the Finder by following these steps:

1. Open the Music app on your Mac.

2. Locate the imported file you want to find locally by searching for it in the Music app. Click the Search bar at the top of the sidebar, and enter the name, lyrics and search for it. Choose "Your Library" in the upper-right corner of the search results page.

3. Right-click on the song > Show in Finder. And this will open the Finder and the song you stored locally will appear.

In the iTunes App for PC or Mac: Import Local Files

1. Open the iTunes app on your Mac that runs the macOS Mojave or earlier or PC.

2. Choose File from the top menu, and select Add File/Folder to Library.

3. Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want in the Finder or Windows File Explorer. If you select a folder, all the compatible files it contains will be imported.

4. Select Open.

5. Wait until the iTunes software recognize and download your selected files to your iTunes library.

6. Go to Downloaded or Recently Added tab in the sidebar to find the imported music files. You can also search for specific ones by using the Search bar located in the upper-right corner of the screen.

You can now play, shuffle the imported files, control the playback, and adjust the volume as you like.

If you want to find the imported music files on your computer, you can follow these steps to open them in Files Explorer or Finder.

1. Open the iTunes app on your Mac or PC.

2. Locate the imported file you want to find on your computer. You can also search for it in your library.

3. Right-click on the song > Show in Finder/Windows Explorer. And this will open the location of the file in the Finder or Windows File Explorer.

Part 3. How to Put Local Files to Apple Music for iPhone/iPad/iPod

You can now sync the imported files to the Music app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod.

In the Finder App for Mac: Sync Music

1. Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac.

2. Open the Finder app on your Mac.

3. Select your device from the list in the sidebar of the window.

4. Choose Music from the top menu.

5. Select the Sync music onto [the device's name] > Entire music library or Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists, then select the content types you want to sync.

6. Select Apply.

7. Select Done.

8. Open the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod, and check the Downloaded tab in Library, where the imported files will show up.

In the iTunes App for PC or Mac: Sync Music

1. Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac or PC.

2. Open the iTunes app on your Mac or PC, and select your device at the top of the sidebar.

3. Select Music in the sidebar.

4. Select Sync Music > Sync entire library if you want to sync your iTunes library together with the downloaded music files, or Selected playlists, artists, albums and genres and then the imported music you want to sync to your device.

5. Select Apply.

6. Select Done.

7. Now open the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and check the imported music under Downloaded tab.

Part 4. How to Convert Imported Local Files to AAC on Mac/PC

Once you imported your files to the Music or iTunes app, you gain the ability to convert them to AAC format with the in-app converter. To convert imported iTunes files to a AAC format, you can follow these steps on your PC or Mac:

In the Music App for Mac: Convert Local Files to AAC

1. Open the Music app on your Mac.

2. Select the file in the music library, and choose File in the Apple menu > Convert > Create AAC Version.

3. When the conversion is done, you will find the AAC version of the song listed alongside the original version.

In the iTunes App for PC or Mac: Convert Local Files to AAC

1. Open the iTunes app on your PC or Mac.

2. Select the file in your iTunes library, and choose File from the top menu > Convert > Create AAC Version. iTunes will create AAC versions of the selected songs.

3. After the conversion is complete, you will find the AAC versions of the songs listed alongside the original versions in your iTunes library.

Part 5. How to Convert Imported Files (Apple Music) to MP3 on Mac/PC

If you need to convert your music library to some commonly used formats that're not supported to convert in the iTunes app, you will need a third-party software tool called ViWizard Audio Converter. Or if you lose the original file on your computer but kept in the iTunes music library, you can use ViWizard Audio Converter to redownload it as local files. After downloading music from your music library to a compatible format with the media player, you can transfer the files to your devices and play them offline.

Best Apple Music Converter - ViWIzard Audio Converter

Added with the DRM-removal function, ViWizard Audio Converter is designed for iTunes users to convert and download various contents types to commonly-used formats such as MP3, M4A, M4B, WAV, AAC, and FLAC. In addition to converting and downloading local files you put to the iTunes app, Apple music, iTunes music, podcasts, audiobooks and Audible audiobooks are supported by ViWizard. When extracting music from iTunes, ViWizard will kept the lossless audio and full ID3 tags with the downloaded music. After the conversion, you can put the files to any devices you want with no limits.

Step 1 Import Apple Music for the Conversion

To install the ViWizard Apple Music Converter on your PC or Mac, click the link above. Then, just launch the software and select the Music Note button to import the downloaded Apple tracks from your Apple Music library. Another option is to drag the downloaded Apple tracks from their folder on your PC and place them into ViWizard.

Step 2 Adjust Audio Parameters with the Converter

Once all of your target files have been properly imported, click the Format button in the lower-left corner to select an output format from MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, or M4B. We recommend that you use MP3 as the output format. Click the OK button to save all of your selections.

Step 3 Remove the Restriction of Apple Music

Finally, after all of your options are in place, simply hit the Convert button, and ViWizard will begin the conversion while unlocking the DRM limitation. When the procedure is completed, you will be able to discover all Apple Music in MP3 format. To check, simply click the Converted button.

Conclusion

After reading the article, now you may know how to put local files to Apple Music. You may import local files to Apple Music or iTunes on your computer first, then you can sync the files to your phone. To play Apple Music in other places, you can use ViWizard Audio Converter to download Apple Music in MP3 or other formats you want.