If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em
Microsoft is shutting down Groove Music, their music-streaming service that launched in competition to Spotify. Amidst best efforts, including promotions like offering the service for free for 4 months, Groove Music never gained enough traction.
Current users can continue to use the service until December 31st, 2017. Subscriptions that go beyond that will be given a prorated refund or a gift card. Purchased music is still yours to keep and the Groove Music app will still be supported to play all purchased and downloaded music but it will cease to stream or play Groove Music Pass content like music and music videos.
In the same FAQ page that details all of the changes, Microsoft also announced a partnership with Spotify in order to transition its paid subscribers over. Playlists and collections from Groove will move to Spotify and paid users will get 60 days free of Spotify Premium. If you are a current Groove Music subscriber, it’s important to read through the FAQ to see how the closure will affect you.
Spotify was only recently released on Xbox One and Windows 10 after being exclusive to PlayStation platforms for over two years. The timing of Groove Music’s discontinuation seemed inevitable.
Let us know what you think about Microsoft shutting down the service in the comment section below.