Apple allows sharing and collaboration across a bunch of its own apps. Apps like Photos, Reminders, and Files have all had some form of collaboration so that you and others can work on the same thing and sync the content via iCloud. With iOS 17.2, Apple now offers a Collaborative Playlists feature inside Apple Music – it’s a way to share a playlist you created with friends and family so that they can add songs, re-order the content, and react to songs shared in the playlist.  

How to create a collaborative playlist in Apple Music

  • Required: iPhone running iOS 17.2 or later. 
SHORT GUIDE:

Open the Apple Music app and select Library > Playlists > (playlist) > 3-dots icon > Collaborate > Start Collaboration. You’ll get a shareable link you can copy and share with people via the app you want to send invitations. 

GIF GUIDE:

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE:
  1. To create a collaborative playlist, you need to have a playlist that you’ve already made or create a new one inside Apple Music. To get started, open the Apple Music app on your iPhone. Inside Apple Music, tap on the Library tab from the bottom and select Playlists. 
  2. When the Playlists screen appears, select a playlist you want to collaborate with others. If you wish to create a playlist from scratch, tap on New Playlist… at the top and follow the on-screen instructions to create a playlist and add songs to it. 
  3. Once the selected playlist loads up, tap on the 3-dots icon at the top right corner and select Collaborate from the overflow menu. 
  4. In the “Invite Friends to Join” screen that shows up, you can turn on the Approve Collaborators toggle to manage who can view and manage this playlist. Once you’ve configured that, tap on Start Collaboration at the bottom to proceed. 
  5. When collaboration is enabled, the iOS Share Sheet appears on the screen. From here, you can choose the app that you want to use to share the link to your collaborative playlist or tap on Copy to copy the invite link and share it manually on your preferred app. 
  6. You will now see a Collaborate button (an icon with two people outline) at the top of this playlist. Tapping on this button will show you the screen where you can manage the collaboration, access, and share the invite link or the QR code, and stop the collaboration once and for all. 

FAQs

How do you share your collaborative playlist with others?

As soon as you create a collaborative playlist inside Apple Music, you should see the iOS Share Sheet which can be used to copy the invite link or share it with apps installed on your iPhone. If, for some reason, you forgot to share it with someone, you can access the link to share it by going to Apple Music > Library > Playlists > select the collaborative playlist > Collaborate button and use either the Share Invite Link to send the link to others or the QR code option to allow others to scan it to enter your collaborative playlist. 

Can you collaborate on playlists not generated by you?

No. Collaboration on Apple Music only works on playlists you create by yourself. You cannot transform playlists created by Apple or other users into collaborative playlists. If you like a playlist created by others, you can duplicate that list to create your own playlist by selecting it and going to the 3-dots icon > Add to a Playlist. You can then choose this new playlist to create a collaborative playlist and share it with others. 

Can you stop a playlist collaboration?

Yes. At any time, you can bring your playlist collaboration to an end and stop others from editing the playlist. To do that, go to Apple Music > Library > Playlists > select the collaborative playlist > Collaborate button and tap on the Stop button adjacent to “Collaboration”. Doing this will prevent others from editing the playlist from now onwards but songs that were added will remain intact. 

That’s all you need to know about creating a collaborative playlist in Apple Music with iOS 17.