Microsoft Retires Groove Music App for Spotify
Sad news music lovers: Microsoft has recently announced plans to retire their Groove Music App for Spotify.
Begining December 31st, Pass subscribers to the fledgling service will be refunded pro-rata. Starting after the new year the service will no longer allow the purchase or streaming of music.
The move comes ahead of Microsoft’s plans to partner with the ever in-demand music streaming service Spotify, especially now that Taylor Swift has brought her music back. While this may be an inconvenience to subscribers of Groove Music, have no fear, because Microsoft still has your back.
They plan on working with Spotify to allow previous subscribers to move their playlists over to Spotify. Starting next week an update to the Groove Music app will help to ease the transition. The app will only be available to Windows 10 users while Windows Insiders will have access earlier this week.
How You Can Transition Your Music
While the transition may cause headaches for many dedicated users of the app, the transition looks to be pretty painless.
Follow these steps to do so today:
1. Follow the Instructions In the Groove Music App
Log into your account where you will be prompted with instructions on how to create an account or log in to Spotify.
2. Head Over To Spotify
Once you’ve created or logged in to Spotify, follow the next set of instructions.
3. Make the Transition
From there Spotify will move the music over to their service.
Head over to Microsoft’s blog for more detais on how to make the move.
Why Spotify Isn’t Such a Bad Choice
While many will be upset about Microsoft’s announcement, Spotify remains the go-to app for many windows users. Music fans who use their Windows app have access to 30 million songs along with popular playlists and accesses to the service on all of their devices.
XBox One owners will also be happy to know that they can use the largest on-demand music streaming service from their game console. Much like how they were able to with Groove Music, all of their downloaded playlists are available as well as the entire Spotify catalog.
Why This is Good For Spotify Investors and Users
The news will especially delight investors of Spotify. Now that competition is out of the way, the platform will likely see an increase in support from artists looking for avenues to stream there. As mentioned, more artists are coming to the once-controversial service, including megastars like Taylor Swift. This will no doubt increase Spotify’s own efforts to improve and develop the platform.
Groove Music Won’t Just Disappear Entirely, However
Because users can still access local MP3 files in addition to music stored in OneDrive. Microsoft plans to continue to offer the popular app. This means that Android and iOS users will still have access to the app after the New Year. However, music streaming will no longer be available.