How to Upload Spotify Music to Google Drive: Complete 2025 Guide

Spotify to Google Drive—sounds simple, right? Should be drag and drop.

Except it’s not.

Here’s the thing: over 2 billion people use Google Drive, but you can’t directly upload Spotify music to it. Spotify locks everything down with DRM protection. Even those “offline downloads” you pay for.

I’m going to walk you through converting Spotify playlists to MP3 and getting them into Google Drive. Permanent access, no subscription strings attached.

Can You Actually Upload Spotify Songs to Google Drive?

Short answer? Nope—not without converting them first.

Here’s what’s happening: Spotify streams music in OGG Vorbis format with built-in encryption. When you download songs through Spotify Premium for offline listening, those files stay locked to the Spotify app.

Sure, Google Drive supports MP3, WAV, OGG, and OPUS—but Spotify’s DRM protection blocks any file transfer.

Here’s the frustrating reality:

• Free users: Can stream but can’t download anything
• Premium users: Can download for offline, but files are encrypted and locked
• Both account types: Cannot export or transfer music anywhere outside Spotify

Learned this one the hard way. Cancelled Premium once, and all 1,500 “downloaded” songs?

Gone. Instantly.

Like I never had them.

Why Bother Backing Up Spotify to Google Drive?

I’ve been bouncing between these services for years now. Here are five reasons that actually matter:

1. Free Up Precious Device Storage

My workout playlist—about 500 songs—ate 4.2GB on my iPhone. Moved it to Google Drive as 320kbps MP3s. Got the space back. No more “choose between your photos or your music” dilemma.

2. Break Free from Subscription Dependency

Spotify Premium runs $131.88 a year. Budget gets tight? Artist pulls their catalog like Neil Young did in 2022? Poof. Library gone. Google Drive backups mean your music stays put. Cancel whenever.

3. Cross-Platform Freedom

Google Drive works everywhere: iPhones, Android, Windows, Mac, tablets, smart TVs. I’ve used my library on my phone, laptop, car stereo, and even an old iPod Classic. Unlike Spotify’s app-locked downloads, these MP3s play anywhere.

4. Share Playlists with Anyone

No Spotify account needed on their end. Made a “Summer BBQ Mix” folder, shared the link with family. They clicked it, streamed it through Drive’s web player. Done.

5. Use in Creative Projects

I mess around with video editing sometimes. Need background music. Spotify’s DRM won’t let you import anything. MP3s from Google Drive? Just drag them into Premiere, Final Cut, whatever you’re using. Zero friction.

Benefits of Cloud Music Storage

Think of Google Drive as your personal music vault with these advantages:

• 15GB free storage (enough for ~1,500 songs at 320kbps MP3 quality)
• Automatic sync across all your devices
• No expiration dates unlike streaming service “offline downloads”
• Shareable folders for collaborative playlists
• Plays through Google Drive’s built-in audio player on any browser
• Version history lets you restore accidentally deleted songs

When I had to cancel Premium for three months—budget was tight—I didn’t lose a single track. Drive kept everything running. That’s when it clicked: owning beats renting.

The Tool I Actually Use: Cinch Audio Recorder

I tested seven different approaches. Maybe more—lost count. Cinch Audio Recorder is the one that stuck.

Why Cinch Works Better Than Everything Else I Tested

Works with both Free and Premium accounts. That’s the big one for me. Cinch records in real-time using CAC (Computer Audio Capture)—basically taps into your sound card like a digital recorder.

No API hacks. No shady workarounds.

Just captures what plays.

Features that actually mattered in my testing:

1. Automatic Track Splitting

Cinch figures out where songs start and stop. No editing on your end. Left a 3-hour playlist recording overnight, woke up to 47 separate MP3s with proper titles, artists, albums. Way better than chopping up one giant file manually.

2. Complete ID3 Tag Recognition

None of that “Recording_001.mp3” garbage. Pulls everything: song title, artist, album, full-res artwork, genre, year, track number.

Automatic.

In my testing, hit about 95% accuracy—only some weird indie tracks needed manual fixes.

3. Multiple Output Formats

MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, WMA, OGG—whatever you need. For Drive, I’d go MP3 at 320kbps. Good balance between quality and file size. Audiophiles can use WAV or FLAC if storage isn’t an issue.

4. Silent Recording Mode

You can mute your computer while recording. Cinch taps the audio stream before it hits your speakers. Perfect for overnight sessions or recording while you work.

5. Ad Filtering for Spotify Free

Stuck with Spotify Free and those obnoxious ads? Built-in filter catches them. Auto-removes. No cleanup on your end.

How Cinch Stacks Up Against Other Methods

What I found after testing everything:

One-time $25.99 payment. That’s what got me. Most converters hit you with $39-99 every year. Cinch pays for itself in like 3-4 months. Compare that to Premium at $131.88/year just for offline access? Easy choice.

Download Cinch Audio Recorder:

Here’s Exactly How I Convert Spotify to MP3

Step 1: Get Cinch Installed and Running

1. Download from official website (links above)
2. Run installer (CinchAudioRecorder.exe on Windows)
3. Follow installation wizard
4. Launch Cinch from desktop

Try the free trial first. Record a few songs, check the quality. Then decide if you want to buy it.

Step 2: Tweak the Settings (Takes 2 Minutes)

Hit the Settings gear icon. Bottom-left.

Recommended settings for Google Drive:

• Format: MP3
• Quality: 320 kbps
• Sample Rate: 44100 Hz
• Channels: Stereo

Output Folder: Create C:MusicSpotify Recordings (Windows) or ~/Music/Spotify Recordings/ (Mac).

Enable:

• ✓ Silent recording
• ✓ Auto-detect track changes
• ✓ Fetch ID3 tags automatically

Quick math: 320kbps runs about 10MB per 4-minute song. 100 songs = roughly 1GB. Drive’s free 15GB? Around 1,500 songs.

Step 3: Hit Record and Let It Run

1. Click that red Record button in Cinch
2. Open Spotify (desktop app or web player)
3. Play your playlist/album
4. Cinch automatically splits tracks

For big playlists, do this overnight:

1. Start recording before bed
2. Queue up your Spotify playlist
3. Turn on “Repeat playlist” (just in case)
4. Adjust power settings to “Never sleep”

Wake up, library’s done. It really is that simple.

Heads up: Spotify player volume matters. Keep it 80-100%. You can mute system speakers if you need quiet—Cinch grabs the stream before it reaches them anyway.

Step 4: Check Your Loot

Hit the Library tab. Everything’s there: track titles, artists, albums, artwork.

Already tagged.

Free account users: Use the Filter button. Auto-detects ads, removes them. One click.

Step 5: Locate Your Files

Right-click any track → “Open File Location” to access all MP3s.

Cinch organizes automatically by artist/album:

Spotify Recordings/
├── Taylor Swift/
│   ├── 1989/
│   └── Midnights/
└── Ed Sheeran/
    └── Divide/

Getting Your Music Into Google Drive

Method 1: Browser Upload (Quick & Easy)

Best for: Albums or smaller playlists (under 100 songs)

1. Go to drive.google.com and sign in
2. Create a “Music” folder
3. Click “New” → “Folder upload”
4. Select your Spotify Recordings folder
5. Wait for upload to complete

Takes about 10-15 minutes for 100 songs. Maybe less if your internet’s fast—or longer if it’s not.

Method 2: Desktop App (My Favorite for Big Libraries)

Best for: Large collections (500 songs)

1. Download Google Drive Desktop from Google
2. Install and sign in
3. Drag your Spotify Recordings folder right into the Google Drive folder
4. It syncs in the background automatically

This one’s my go-to. Set it once, forget about it. Uploads happen in the background. New recordings? They sync automatically.

Been running this setup for over a year now.

⚠️ Storage Limit:

Running out of space? Google One gives you 100GB for $1.99/month. That’s around 5,500 songs at 320kbps. Cheaper than Premium, plus you get extra Gmail storage.

Other Methods I Tried (Spoiler: They’re Not Great)

I tested a bunch of alternatives before landing on Cinch. Here’s what else is out there, and why I stopped using them.

Command-Line Downloaders (Spotdl, SpotiFlyer)

How they work: These command-line tools scrape Spotify metadata and download matching tracks from YouTube Music or other sources.

Pros:

• ✓ Completely free and open-source
• ✓ Faster than real-time recording (downloads, doesn’t record)
• ✓ Works without Spotify Premium

Cons:

• ✗ Requires Python installation and command-line knowledge
• ✗ Downloads from YouTube, not Spotify (potential quality mismatches)
• ✗ Frequently breaks when Spotify or YouTube update their systems
• ✗ Album art and tags often incorrect or missing entirely
• ✗ Sometimes downloads wrong versions (live instead of studio, covers instead of originals)

My experience: Spent 2 hours on setup. Downloads were fast—15 minutes for 50 songs. But 8 were wrong versions, 12 had missing artwork. Another hour fixing that.

Then Spotify updated and broke everything. Waited 3 weeks for a patch.

Only worth it if you like debugging stuff.

Premium Offline Downloads (Not Actually a Backup)

Premium’s offline feature doesn’t fix anything. Here’s the problem:

Files are encrypted .OGG format. Only play in Spotify. Need internet check-ins. Delete the second your subscription ends. Tested this myself—cancelled after a month, 200 “downloaded” songs went “unavailable” in under 24 hours.

Find those .OGG files in the app folder? Still encrypted. VLC, iTunes, Windows Media Player—nothing plays them without active Premium.

It’s a rental. Not ownership.

Audacity Manual Route (Way Too Much Work)

Free audio recording software like Audacity can capture Spotify playback, but:

• No automatic track splitting (one giant file)
• Manual editing required (cut into individual songs)
• Zero ID3 automation (type everything manually)
• Extremely time-intensive

Tried this with a 20-song playlist once. Recording took 90 minutes. Splitting, exporting, typing metadata? Another 3.5 hours.

Not doing that again.

Cinch handles it all in 90 minutes, zero manual work.

How to Keep Your Drive Music Library Organized

Here’s the folder structure I use:

Google Drive/Music/
├── Spotify Playlists/
│   ├── Workout Mix 2025/
│   └── Road Trip Anthems/
└── By Artist/
    ├── Taylor Swift/
    └── Ed Sheeran/

I organize by playlists because that’s how I listen. Mood, activity.

Not by artist.

Sharing Music with Friends (No Subscription Required)

1. Right-click any folder → Share
2. Set permission to “Viewer” (they can play/download but not edit)
3. Copy link and send it

Made a “Road Trip 2025” folder with five friends last summer. Everyone added their converted favorites. Ended up with 400 songs.

Nobody needed Premium to listen.

When Things Go Wrong (Quick Fixes)

Recordings Sound Off or Quiet

The problem: Audio comes out distorted or too quiet

Solutions:

• Check Spotify volume (should be 80-100%)
• Mute system speakers, not Spotify
• Update sound card drivers
• Disable Windows audio enhancements (Right-click speaker icon → Sounds → Enhancements tab → Check “Disable all”)

Upload Gets Stuck or Fails

Upload freezing or failing halfway? Here’s what helps:

• Upload in batches of 50-100 files
• Clear browser cache (Ctrl Shift Delete)
• Use Desktop app instead of web upload
• Check storage quota at google.com/settings/storage

Album Art Missing or Wrong

Blank covers or wrong tags? Quick fixes:

• Right-click the track → “Edit ID3 Tags” in Cinch
• Grab album art from Google Images (search “[Album Name] album cover”)
• Re-record with stable internet—Cinch pulls tags online as it records

Pro Tips for Your Cloud Music Library

Storage Optimization:

• Use 256kbps instead of 320kbps (saves 20% space, minimal quality difference—honestly can’t tell the difference)
• Regularly delete duplicates
• Consider Google One upgrade for large libraries

Actually Playing Your Music:

1. Drive Web Player: Built-in. No extra software. Streams without downloading.
2. Offline on Mobile: Drive app → three dots → “Make available offline”
3. Third-Party Apps: CloudBeats for iOS, CloudPlayer for Android. Better playlist support.
4. In Your Car: Works with Android Auto and CarPlay. Stream your whole library.

Want to dive deeper?

• Check out our guide on top streaming audio recorders for more tools
• Learn more about how DRM actually works
• See how to record from Amazon Music and other services

Wrapping This Up

Spotify to Google Drive isn’t drag-and-drop. DRM blocks that.

But Cinch Audio Recorder handles the conversion—auto track splitting, ID3 tags, ad filtering for Free accounts.

$25.99 one-time. Most converters charge yearly. Your library stays yours regardless of subscription status.

Convert first, then upload. Drive’s free 15GB holds about 1,500 songs at 320kbps. Organize by playlists if that’s how you listen.

That’s it.

FAQs

Q: Can I upload Spotify offline downloads directly to Google Drive?

Nope. Those are encrypted DRM files. Only work in Spotify’s app. You have to convert them first—MP3, WAV, whatever. That’s where Cinch comes in.

Q: Is it legal to convert Spotify music for personal use?

For personal backup, yeah. Cinch records like a tape recorder—digital version of recording off the radio. Just don’t sell or distribute the files.

Q: Will Cinch Audio Recorder work with Spotify Free accounts?

Yep. Works with both. Built-in ad filter removes ads from Free recordings automatically.

Q: How much Google Drive storage do I need for 1,000 songs?

About 10GB at 320kbps. Average 4-minute songs. Drive’s free 15GB handles 1,200-1,500 songs, give or take. Depends a bit on your music taste—longer tracks eat more space.

Q: Can I play these files on any device?

Pretty much. MP3s work everywhere—phones, tablets, computers, car stereos, old MP3 players. Anything that plays music.