Microsoft euthanizes Groove Music, switches to Spotify

We don’t know about you, but Microsoft has always seemed a bit fanciful making Groove Music the default solution for subscription music and purchases on Windows PCs and the Xbox. Not that there was anything terribly wrong with it. Groove Music was quite competent, but there was nothing that made it stand out as being in any way better than the competition. So it is unsurprising to learn that Microsoft has finally called time on the application in its current form and has instead opted to expand its partnership with Spotify to replace soon to be lost functionality in Groove.

In its Windows Blog, Microsoft has announced that the Music Pass subscription feature and the ability to purchase music through the Groove Music app will be discontinued. However, the Groove Music app will remain on PCs as a way to play and manage a user’s own music library. To help with the transition, Groove Music Pass customers will be able to move their curated playlists and collections directly into Spotify. To help salve any other wounds, users will also be eligible for a 60-day free trial of Spotify Premium (unless they already have a Spotify account).

Microsoft released this statement on the changeover process:

An update to the Groove Music app including the ability to move music to Spotify, will be available for Windows Insiders beginning this week. The Groove Music app update for Windows 10 and Xbox One devices will roll out broadly the week of October 9, 2017 and will enable Groove Music Pass customers to move existing music collections and playlists to Spotify. Groove Music Pass content will be available to move to Spotify until at least January 31, 2018.

For customers who continue to use Groove Music to manage and play their music collection, Microsoft has promised that it will continue to invest in and update the Groove Music app into the future.

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