Spotify Playlist Export: Which File Format Should You Use?
The format you choose depends on what you plan to do with the file. Each format carries a different subset of metadata and is designed for a different audience.
CSV: The Best Format for Archiving and Spreadsheets
CSV is the most information-dense export option. The file includes columns for title, artist, album, duration in milliseconds, and ISRC. This makes it the best choice for archiving a playlist record, tracking your music library in a spreadsheet, or re-importing into another tool later. The ISRC column is particularly valuable for future transfers: if you import this CSV file into our transfer tool in the future, the ISRC values enable direct lookup on Deezer and Spotify rather than fuzzy matching.
M3U and M3U8: DJ Software and Media Players
M3U (and its UTF-8 variant M3U8) is the format supported by most DJ software and local media players, including VLC, foobar2000, Winamp, and Rekordbox. Our export writes the extended M3U format with #EXTINF lines carrying the duration and Artist - Title string. M3U8 is identical in structure but declares UTF-8 encoding, which handles non-ASCII artist names (accented characters, CJK scripts) correctly. Use M3U8 unless your software specifically requires the legacy M3U format.
XSPF and iTunes XML: Interoperability Formats
XSPF (XML Shareable Playlist Format) is an open standard designed for cross-player portability. It carries title, artist, album, duration, and ISRC in a structured XML schema. iTunes Library XML follows Apple's plist (property list) format and is useful for importing into applications that expect an iTunes-style library export. Both are generated client-side using the browser's native XMLSerializer.
Re-importing Your Export
Any file you export here can be re-imported using our file-to-Spotify, file-to-YouTube Music, or file-to-Deezer transfers. CSV exports with ISRCs will match faster and more accurately than TXT exports without them, since the ISRC path bypasses the fuzzy matcher entirely on Spotify and Deezer.