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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

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Their business model is largely a shotgun approach: Go for a plethora of services and products then see what sticks.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#22

Nice! But what's the point of the app now? Shouldn't they discontinue the app itself as well then? Also, would be amazing if it would work both ways - you can play Spotify content in your Groove app because then you don't even need to install anything.

I'm hoping they don't remove the app. I use Groove to play my MP3 collection. It's built in and gets the job done.

They could just enable the default uninstall procedure without killing the app itself as a whole.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#23

This is quite the way to say a service is shutting down. "We aren't closing, we are just transitioning our space into a new business and that business will take care of your needs from now on."

Usually that’s called an acquisition, but I guess Spotify got this one for free ?

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The song limit is really better in Apple, but you are able to add your own music in Spotify. To listen to it in other devices I had to download it in them.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#25

This is quite the way to say a service is shutting down. "We aren't closing, we are just transitioning our space into a new business and that business will take care of your needs from now on."

Usually that’s called an acquisition, but I guess Spotify got this one for free ?

I am betting Microsoft got some kind of deal with Spotify out of this. Spotify had an exclusivity agreement with Sony that kept the Spotify app off the Xbox One; that agreement lapsed and Spotify is on the Xbox One now. I would not be surprised if that and other things were in a deal between the two firms.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#27

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 X business longer than Y, when their myriad product lines are taken into account.

> That said, they didn't execute well.

This has been the story of any number of MS product lines, unfortunately. Handhelds/smart devices, social media, streaming services, etc.

Microsoft is actually really good at recruiting research talent that spots the next trends emerging before they happen and coming up with compelling ideas/prototypes. They then proceed to trip over themselves during execution and while being first to market, being outcompeted by the second wave and coming in with a mediocre offering by the 3rd or 4th wave.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#28
post #17

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 y…

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

Per the FAQ, the Windows Store is shutting down its music section entirely as well. You will have until December to download any purchased song files from the Store before it shuts down. The FAQ does state that all purchased songs that have been downloaded will continue to play, and suggests moving them to OneDrive (if you hadn't already) to continue to sync them and make them available on all your devices.

Re: Microsoft to Bring Spotify to Groove Music Pass Customers

#29
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually that’s called an acquisition, but I guess Spotify got this one for free ?

I am betting Microsoft got some kind of deal with Spotify out of this. Spotify had an exclusivity agreement with Sony that kept the Spotify app off the Xbox One; that agreement lapsed and Spotify is on the Xbox One now. I would not be surprised if that and other things were in a deal between the two firms.

Alternatively, MSFT is interested in buying Spotify.

They have purchased Swedish companies before..

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