Why are some playlists missing after an Apple Music transfer?

Quick answer

Apple Music's transfer only moves playlists you created yourself. Playlists you follow from other people, and ones the service generated for you (like Spotify's Discover Weekly), are left behind.

Apple says it plainly on its transfer support page: you can transfer only playlists you created, and playlists made by the music service don't transfer. Your originals stay where they were.

The workaround is to make the playlist yours first. In Spotify, open the followed playlist, select all the songs, and add them to a new playlist you own. Run the transfer again and it'll show up in the list.

If a playlist you did create is missing, check these:

1. Wait a bit. Library changes sync through iCloud, and big playlists can take a while to appear, as the SongShift FAQ notes.
2. Make sure Sync Library is on in your Music settings on every device.
3. Finish any pending Needs Review list. Apple won't start a new transfer on that device until you do.

Also expect empty spots inside playlists that did move. Songs missing from Apple's catalog in your region, and local files, don't come across. Our Spotify to Apple Music guide lists other tools if the built-in transfer keeps skipping things.