What Streaming Services Let You Import and Mix Your Own Collection?

Human + Machine

Human + Machine

— 2 min read

Editor's note: We are A/B testing this blog post against a similar one here (what-streaming-services-let-you-catalog-your-offline-collection). Thanks for your patience as we work through the best option.

For all the benefits of streaming — unlimited access, curated playlists, daily discovery — one thing is still frustratingly difficult:

Mixing your own music collection with your streaming library.

What if you want to stream that rare EP you ripped from a CD in 2004… alongside your current favorite Spotify playlist?
What if your band’s demo isn’t on streaming yet, but you want to keep it in your regular listening flow?
What if you have a meticulously tagged FLAC archive and don’t want to abandon it?

It turns out, only a few platforms make this easy — and even then, it’s rarely seamless.

Let’s break down who does what.

✅ Apple Music (Best Integration)

Apple Music allows you to:

  • Upload or match your local music files via the Music app on Mac (formerly iTunes)
  • Sync those tracks to the cloud with iCloud Music Library
  • Access them on all your Apple devices, integrated into your streaming library
  • Mix personal and streamed songs in playlists, downloads, and search results

Pros:

  • Seamless integration for users deep in the Apple ecosystem
  • Supports high-res and lossless formats (ALAC, FLAC)
  • Works across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

Cons:

  • Still a bit clunky on Windows
  • File matching sometimes mislabels albums
  • iCloud Music Library requires a paid Apple Music subscription

✅ YouTube Music (Surprisingly Flexible)

YouTube Music lets you:

  • Upload your personal MP3s or FLACs directly via the browser
  • Access them on mobile or desktop apps
  • Create playlists that mix personal and official tracks

Pros:

  • Free uploads — doesn’t require a paid plan
  • Decent file support
  • Accessible on any device with a Google account

Cons:

  • Playlist building and metadata tagging are minimal
  • Search doesn’t always surface uploads intuitively
  • Doesn’t support gapless playback

✅ Plexamp + Plex Media Server (For the Power Users)

Plex isn’t technically a streaming service, but it’s a media server solution you can run on your own hardware or in the cloud.

With Plexamp, you can:

  • Build your own streaming platform
  • Stream FLACs, DSD, MP3, ALAC, etc.
  • Use smart playlists, visualizers, offline syncing, and more
  • Access your music collection from anywhere with internet

Pros:

  • Total control over library and quality
  • Beautiful app experience for power listeners
  • No DRM or licensing restrictions

Cons:

  • Requires setup (and possibly server hosting)
  • Doesn’t integrate commercial streaming catalogs — your library only
  • No built-in discovery

❌ Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Amazon Music

None of these platforms support local music uploads anymore — at least not in a way that integrates with your streaming account.

  • Spotify used to allow local file sync between desktop and mobile, but it’s been buggy and deprioritized.
  • Tidal and Amazon Music do not support local music or user-uploaded content.
  • Deezer has limited support for local playback in the desktop app, but no cloud sync.

If you want a single library that merges your personal collection with streaming music — these are not your best bet.

Final Thought: Streaming Still Has Blind Spots

For all its sophistication, streaming still lacks the flexibility that music lovers and collectors crave.

The best experiences today come from:

  • Apple Music (for users embedded in the Apple world)
  • YouTube Music (for those who want basic upload ability)
  • Plexamp (for full ownership and customization)

Until streaming platforms take personal libraries seriously, we’ll continue to juggle apps, lose metadata, and wish we could play our rarities, demos, or private mixes alongside what the algorithm serves up.

Because sometimes the best music… is the one you already have.

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