How to Add Music to iMovie from Spotify on Apple Devices [2026 Updated]

“Can I add Spotify music to iMovie?” – From Reddit

As Apple’s flagship free video editor, iMovie is a staple for creators using macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. It offers powerful features for trimming clips, adding transitions, and inserting background music. While iMovie allows you to upload local audio files and purchased iTunes songs, many users quickly discover a frustrating limitation: you cannot directly access or use Spotify music within the iMovie app.

So, is there a workaround to add music to iMovie from Spotify? Yes. In this guide, we will explain why this limitation exists and provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to successfully import your favorite Spotify tracks into your iMovie projects on any Apple device.

• Part 1. Can You Add Spotify Music to iMovie
• Part 2. How to Download Music from Spotify to iMovie
• Part 3. How to Import Music from Spotify to iMovie on iPhone/iPad
• Part 4. How to Put Spotify Music on iMovie on Mac
• Part 5. FAQs about Spotify to iMovie
• Part 6. Bottom Line

---

Part 1. Can You Add Spotify Music to iMovie

The answer is you can’t do that in a direct way. Even though you download Spotify songs, you can listen those Spotify music offline with a Premium account inside the Spotify app or web player on authorized devices or apps. However, iMovie is not included in the device/app list.

Moreover, all files from Spotify including the downloads you got with Spotify Premium before are copyright-protected in a special OGG Vorbis format, which is not supported by iMovie. Thus, iMovie can’t recognize Spotify tracks. Please view the table below to check what file formats does iMovie support:

iMovie Supported Audio Formats	M4A, MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF
Spotify Audio Format	Special OGG Vorbis

So, is there any way to bypass the limitation? You can move forward to find out what works.

---

Part 2. How to Download Music from Spotify to iMovie

To add Spotify to iMovie, it is requisite to remove the copyright restriction from Spotify songs and convert them as unprotected local files using a tool. We’d like to recommend you draw support from the AudFun Spotify Music Converter, one of the best music downloading and conversion tools for Spotify in the market.

The AudFun Music Converter for Spotify empowers you to download Spotify playlists, tracks, podcasts, audiobooks, album, and any other content to the local files on your computer instead of temporary caches. This all-around program has the capability to batch convert Spotify to WAV, MP3, AAC, and more iMovie-compatible audio formats at a super 5X speed.

In addition, thanks to its innovative decode technology, 100% of the original audio quality and full metadata info will be kept after conversion. This feature-rich tool also entitles you to change output parameters like sample rate or bitrate to get higher quality. Also, t allows you to edit ID3 tags for managing local music library more conveniently.

How to Get Music from Spotify for iMovie

You can install this AudFun software and give it a shot with its free version. iMovie is compatible with the Mac operating system. Thus, it is suggested to download AudFun Spotify Music Converter for Mac on your computers. After that, it’s easy to download songs for iMovie from Spotify by following the below steps.

Step 1 Import Spotify Songs to AudFun Spotify Music Converter

On the Spotify app or web player, tap on the right ‘…‘ icon of the track or playlists you want to add to iMovie. Then select ‘Share‘ > ‘Copy Song/Playlist Link‘ from the dropdown list to get the URL link. After that, paste the link to the top Search bar on AudFun and touch on the ‘+‘ icon to load those music files. Or, try this effective channel: Drag and drop the song, playlist, albums, or other files from Spotify to the converter’s interface directly.

Step 2 Set Spotify Output Format as iMovie-compatible One

Please click the top Menu bar. Then choose ‘Preferences‘ from the popup and switch to the ‘Convert‘ section. There, you can set the Spotify output format like MP3, AAC, WAV, M4A, etc. for the compatibility between Spotify music and iMovie. MP3 is recommended for its extensive compatibility with almost all devices or apps including iMovie. On top of that, you can change Spotify track’s bitrate, sample rate, and other parameters to keep lossless quality or get higher-quality audio.

Step 3 Download Songs from Spotify for iMovie

Click the ‘Convert‘ tab at the bottom-right corner to start the download process. AudFun Spotify Music Converter will download songs from Spotify without Premium to iMovie-enabled files at a faster speed and save those conversions to your Mac. Please tap on the bottom ‘Converted‘ tab with a red spot to preview or locate the converted files. Afterward, you can get ready to add Spotify to iMovie videos.

---

Part 3. How to Add Music to iMovie from Spotify on iPhone/iPad

After converting, it’s time to put those converted Spotify songs to iMovie now. A majority of people prefer to edit their videos using their iPhone or iPad. If you are one of them, please read on. We will take you through the stepwise guide to add Spotify music to the video in iMovie on iOS devices.

How to Sync Converted Spotify Songs to iPhone/iPad via iTunes

Step 1. Please transfer the converted Spotify music to iTunes by clicking on the top-right ‘File‘ tab and choose ‘Add File/Folder to Library‘.

Step 2. Proceed to sync those uploaded Spotify conversion to your iOS device. Please connect your iPhone or iPad to your macOS computer via a USB cable in advance.

Step 3. Simply choose the ‘Music‘ section from the left panel > select the ‘Entire music library‘ option > hit the bottom ‘Sync‘ or ‘Apply‘ button. Then all Spotify conversions in the iTunes library will be synced to your iOS device.

How to Put Music on iMovie from Spotify on iPhone/iPad

Step 1. Go back to the iMovie Video Editor on your iOS device. Under the ‘Projects‘ panel, hit the large ‘+‘ button and choose ‘Movie‘ from the popup.

Step 2. Then select a video you hope to edit with Spotify songs and click on the bottom ‘Create Movie‘ option. (If you can’t find your video, just click on the upper-right ‘Media‘ tab > pick ‘Video‘ from a popup.)

Step 3. Hit on the Add Media option like a ‘+‘ icon at the upper left. Then select ‘Audio‘ from the list.

Step 4. Proceed to click on the ‘Playlists‘ or ‘Songs‘ option to find and choose the Spotify music you want to add to iMovie for a preview. Later, you can edit the Spotify song in your project timeline.

---

Part 4. How to Add Spotify Music to iMovie on Mac

If you use a Mac computer, then you can learn how to import Spotify songs to iMovie on Mac here.

Step 1. Open iMovie and launch the iMovie project on your Mac computer. You have to sync the Spotify library to iTunes in advance according to the above-mentioned steps.

Step 2. Tap the ‘Audio‘ button from the top navigation bar. Then select ‘iTunes‘ or ‘Music‘ from the left sidebar to add a song from Spotify to iMovie. Browse your favorite Spotify tunes that you want to add to your iMovie project.

Step 3. Drag and drop the Spotify audio clip to the background music timeline. You can position, trim and edit music independently of clips in the timeline.

---

Part 5. FAQs about Spotify to iMovie

Here are some frequently asked questions about adding Spotify music to iMovie. Please learn more about them in this part.

Q1: Why Can’t I Add Music to iMovie from Spotify Directly?

A:  Spotify encodes files in the OGG Vorbis format. iMovie does not support the OGG format; it requires standard, unprotected formats like MP3, WAV, or M4A.

Q2: How do I edit Spotify music once it is in iMovie?

A: Once you drag the converted track into your timeline, click on the audio clip. You can drag the edges to trim the start and end points, use the volume slider to adjust audio levels, or click the ‘Audio Effects’ button in the top toolbar to apply equalizers and background noise reduction.

Q3: Is it legal to use Spotify music in my iMovie videos?

A: Converting Spotify music is strictly for personal, non-commercial use. If you plan to upload your iMovie video to YouTube or other public platforms, you may face copyright strikes unless you have explicit permission from the copyright holder.

---

Part 6. Bottom Line

While you cannot directly link Spotify to Apple’s video editor, learning how to add Spotify music to iMovie is easy once you have the right tools. By using the AudFun Spotify Music Converter, you can quickly transform protected tracks into standard MP3s. From there, whether you are editing on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, importing your favorite background music takes just a few clicks.