Microsoft Retires Groove Music Streaming Service, Switches Customers to Spotify

Two years ago, Microsoft rebranded Xbox Music to Groove Music in efforts to make its music streaming service relevant to more consumers.

Today, Microsoft announced that it is now giving up on Groove Music, and partnering with Spotify instead. The company has said that it will stop selling Groove Music passes soon. Any customers subscribed to the service will be refunded pro-rata once Groove Music Pass is discontinued on December 31st.

After December 31st, Microsoft’s Groove Music app will no longer support streaming music or the ability to purchase and download songs.

Microsoft is partnering with Spotify to make it easy for Groove Music subscribers to move their playlists over to the popular music streaming service. The update that will allow users to do this will be available on Windows 10 next week, while Windows Insiders will get the update this week.

Microsoft and Spotify have been working together on a Windows 10 app and a separate app for the Xbox One, so it’s not a surprise to see Microsoft pick Spotify as its preferred partner for Groove Music subscribers.

While the streaming music element of Groove Music is disappearing fully, Microsoft says it will continue to invest in the music app for Windows 10 to ensure users can still access local MP3 files and those stored in OneDrive.

Microsoft will now recommend Windows users try Spotify if they want streaming music, which is a big boost for Spotify.

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