Microsoft Groove Is Going Away, So Switch To Spotify

If you’re one of the few using Microsoft’s Groove Music app and Groove Music Pass streaming service, bad news: The company’s discontinuing both Groove Music Pass subscriptions as well as the ability to stream, purchase or download music with the Groove Music app at year’s end. Instead, Microsoft is partnering with Spotify, and letting users move select Groove Music content to the streaming service.

Image credit: Microsoft

It’s certainly an inconvenience, but at least you won’t have to rebuild your music library from square one. In a blog post announcing the service’s shutdown, Microsoft announced support for a smooth transition from your Groove Music app to Spotify’s own music app and streaming service.

To successfully export your Groove Music selection, you’ll need to use the latest version of the app. The app will walk you through the creation of a Spotify account, and handle the actual transfer of preferences such as saved albums, user-created playlists, and other saved songs to your new (or existing) Spotify account. If you want to save playlists from Groove Explore, you’ll need to make copies of them for your account.

Switching music services is always a pain, but the good news is that eligible Groove Music users can get 60 days of free Spotify Premium (as long as they haven’t subscribed to the service in the past). Music Pass subscribers can also get a prorated refund (or 120 per cent of said refund in the form of a Microsoft gift card) should their subscription extend past the 31 December 2017 deadline.

If you’re an Xbox One owner using Groove Music, you should know that Spotify’s Xbox One app, like Groove Music, also lets you play music from Spotify’s catalogue, search for new tunes, and listen to your own playlists while you game. You can find it in the Entertainment page when you visit the All Apps section.