How to Download Spotify Music to Mac

Updated by Matt Smith on Apr 17, 2023 3:37 PM.
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Once you've subscribed to Spotify Premium, you can not only listen to nonstop Spotify music without ads online but also download music from Spotify for offline listening anywhere. After downloading music, however, you may be disappointed to find out that you don't fully own those songs as they are encrypted with digital rights management. In other words, you can only play downloaded songs on those devices compatible with Spotify, instead of any portable devices.

To break the limitation, you should seek for help from some third-party tools. At this point, Spotify downloaders can be a good helper, enabling you to download songs from Spotify to your computer. However, not all Spotify downloaders on the internet can work well on Mac. Fortunately, we'll uncover how to download Spotify music on Mac even though you are a Spotify Free user. Read on to learn more about how to download Spotify songs on Mac for free.

download spotify music on mac

Part 1. How to Download Music from Spotify on Mac with Premium
     1.1 Download music from Spotify on Mac
     1.2 Find downloaded Spotify music on Mac
Part 2. How to Download Music from Spotify to Mac without Premium
Part 3. How to Transfer Downloaded Spotify Music to Mobile Devices

Part 1. How to Download Music from Spotify on Mac with Premium

To download Spotify music on Mac for offline listening, you will need the Spotify app for Mac and a Premium subscription, then you can start to download music from Spotify to your Mac.

How to download music from Spotify on Mac:

Make sure you have installed the latest version of the Spotify desktop app on your Mac. If you haven't, head to Spotify's official download website to download the Mac version.

Step 1. On your Mac, open the Spotify desktop app. You can either click the Spotify app icon to open the app in the Dock or the Launchpad icon.

Step 2. When you're asked to log in to Spotify, use your Premium account and password to log in.

Step 3. Now go to what you want to download from Spotify to your Mac.

Step 4. To download a playlist, album, or artist on Spotify, click on the Download icon. Then Spotify starts to download all the songs your selection includes.

mac spotify download playlist

Step 5. Once the download is done successfully, the Download icon will turns green. At this time you will see the Downloaded icon next to it, which indicates that the items are downloaded on your Mac.

mac spotify downloaded playlist

How to find downloaded Spotify music on Mac:

Even with a Premium subscription, you can only download Spotify music within the Spotify app for Mac, and the downloaded files are encrypted and can only be played within the app. If you wish to find these encrypted files on your Mac by identifying the offline storage location.

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

/Users/"youreusername"/Library/ApplicationSupport/Spotify/PersistentCache/Storage

Step 1. On your Mac, open the Spotify desktop app.

Step 2. Hover your mouse over your profile in the upper-right corner and click on it.

Step 3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.

Step 4. Scroll down to Storage > Offline storage location, and under it you should see the same directory as above.

mac spotify settings offline storage location

Step 5. Open the Finder and go to this directory and you will be able to view the downloaded files in Spotify's cache folder.

mac application support

If you're running out of disk space, you can clear up a significant amount of storage by deleting these files. But these files won't be available when you are offline and you will have to redownload them with your Premium subscription.

Part 2. How to Download Music from Spotify to Mac without Premium

If you want or need to download music from Spotify to your Mac as audio files, you'll need a Spotify music downloader for Mac, such as ViWizard Music Converter.

Best Spotify Music Downloader for Mac - ViWiard Music Converter

ViWizard Music Converter can help both Premium and free users to download Spotify music, such as individual songs, playlists, albums, podcasts, artists and even audiobooks on Mac. Additionally, it converts the downloaded files to commonly used audio formats such as MP3, AAC, FLAC, etc. Even without a Premium subscription, you can have the benefits to download any music tracks you want from Spotify to your Mac.

With ViWizard Music Converter on your Mac, you have the ability to listen to the downloaded Spotify music on any device or media player you like, without any limitations. All you need to do is to connect your device to your Mac and start the transfer. Just click the Download button for the Mac version of ViWiard below, and you're officially ready to go.

spotify music converter

Key Features of ViWizard Spotify Music Converter for Mac

  • Download music from Spotify Mac free at 5× faster speed
  • Convert Spotify music to MP3, WAV, AAC, M4A, M4B, FLAC
  • Stream any Spotify songs on portable devices and desktop
  • Preserve Spotify music with very high quality and ID3 tags
2,000,000+Downloads
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Step 1Upload Spotify Songs to ViWizard Software

add spotify music

Run ViWizard Spotify Music Converter on your Mac computer. Then it completely loads the Spotify app. Once done, log into Spotify account and find any music track or playlist in Spotify you want to download to Mac. Then simply drag your chosen titles to the interface of ViWizard.

Step 2Adjust the Output Profile for Spotify Music

select output format

Click the menu bar of Mac and choose the Preferences option. Then you'll be able to select the output format. ViWizard supports MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, and M4B. You can also customize other parameters including channel, bit rate, and sample rate if you like.

Step 3Begin to Download Spotify Music on Mac

convert spotify songs

To start downloading Spotify songs on Mac, go back to the main window of ViWizard and click on the Convert button at the right corner. It will begin to download music from Spotify to Mac at up to 5× faster speed with original audio quality and ID3 tags preserved.

Part 3. How to Transfer Downloaded Spotify Music to Mobile Devices

With a selection of downloaded audio files on your Mac, you can now transfer them to your devices for offline play.

How to transfer downloaded Spotify music to iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch:

Step 1. On your Mac, open a Finder window.

Step 2. Connect an iPhone, iPad, or iPad touch to your computer with a USB cable.

Step 3. Select your device in the Finder.

Step 4. Select the audio files that you want to copy.

Step 5. Drag the files to the app on your device. The Finder copies the files to your device.

How to transfer downloaded Spotify music to Android:

Step 1. Make sure the latest version of Android File Transfer app is downloaded and installed on your Mac.

Step 2. Connect an Android device to your Mac with a USB cable.

Step 3. Select and open your Android device's storage under "Use USB for" in the Android File Transfer app.

Step 4. Select the audio files that you want to copy.

Step 5. Drag the files to the app on your device.

Bottomline

The process of downloading music from Spotify to Mac is pretty simple with the help of the above tools. If you want to save Spotify music with the original audio quality and ID3 tags, ViWizard Spotify Music Converter could be a better choice for you.

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author

is an amateur writer engaged in ViWizard in 2013. He is a movie lover who write a lot of movie reviews for many websites and blogs.

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