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Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#11

Post by m_mueller »

ben_jones wrote: post #5
theDoug wrote: post #2

Great news for Spotify! It’s a shame Microsoft couldn't find a way to keep MSN Music, Zune Music, XBox Music, or Groove Music sustainable for their users.

There's two types of streaming service: "Let's vertically integrate this new service we have little experience with for profit and as a funnel to our other product lines" "Let's make a great streaming service that creates enough value for our customer that we remain profitable"

is Apple Music successful despite this flaw (I assume it is from what I've read so far)?

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#12

Post by nxc18 »

I had been a streaming customer from early 2008 until 2014. Zune was an amazing service. Xbox Music as a service was compelling, but the switch from Zune to Xbox Music was a great loss in quality & capability.

I switched to Spotify because it had the social features I liked from Zune, but I actually had friends using it (esp. via Facebook integration). It had more songs, better cross platform, and a much more stable desktop interface.

Props to Microsoft for taking the dog behind the shed and ending things. If only they had preserved their dignity and just ended it with Zune rather than stringing customers along on what was definitively not the most competitive offering.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#16

Post by cwyers »

I was a Groove subscriber for a few months while playing Forza Horizon 3, for the in-game integration with Groove. I am guessing this is the end of that feature, which is a shame, and reduces some of the replay value of that game for me. There's a Spotify app for Xbox finally, after their PlayStation partnership ended, but I'm doubtful that games with Groove integration are going to get updated.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#17

Post by niftich »

Summary: 'Groove Music Pass', Microsoft's music streaming service, is being discontinued on 2017-12-31; subscribers get a prorated refund and an opportunity to get a 60-day trial of Spotify Premium; Groove app will offer playlist migration for your personally-curated playlists into Spotify.

Key facts:

- Read their official FAQ [1]

- If you subscribed to 'Groove Music Pass', you will (probably) need to back up music you downloaded using that particular service

- Windows Store-bought music files, or any other 'hard-file-on-disk' music files are unaffected; this announcement concerns a streaming service

- Groove app will remain available as a music player and (local) playlist manager, and will retain the integration with OneDrive to play files that are in your OneDrive

- Your OneDrive storage tier may shrink if right now you are getting more storage because of Groove Music Pass

[1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4046109/groove-musi...

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#18

Post by niftich »

sebazzz wrote: post #7

I hope they still keep Groove alive for OneDrive streaming, but I fear the worst.

At time of writing, their FAQ [1] says:

> Will I still be able to play music from OneDrive?

> Yes. Music you own that's uploaded to your OneDrive music folder can still be streamed and downloaded on your devices with the Groove Music app.

[1] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4046109/groove-musi...

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#19

Post by umeshunni »

Amezarak wrote: post #10
ben_jones wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's two types of streaming service: "Let's vertically integrate this new service we have little experience with for profit and as a funnel to our other product lines" "Let's make a great streaming service that creates enough value for our customer that we remain profitable"

The old Zune Pass was a pretty good deal. Unlimited streaming plus 10 drm-free mp3s a month. MS has actually been in the streaming music business longer than Spotify, when their myriad product lines are taken into account. That said, they didn't execute well. Zune Music was too dependent on the Zune. Groove had no selling points outside the ms ecosystem.

> MS has actually been in the business longer than , when their myriad product lines are taken into account.

> That said, they didn't execute well.

Generalizable to most things Microsoft is involved in.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#20

Post by Longhanks »

m_mueller wrote: post #11
ben_jones wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's two types of streaming service: "Let's vertically integrate this new service we have little experience with for profit and as a funnel to our other product lines" "Let's make a great streaming service that creates enough value for our customer that we remain profitable"

is Apple Music successful despite this flaw (I assume it is from what I've read so far)?

For me, Apple Music is better because a) the song limit is dramatically higher than Spotify (10k vs 100k) and b) I am free to add my own music (not available via streaming) to the library which is then available on all my devices.
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