Microsoft Announces End of Groove Music and Transition to Spotify

Microsoft has announced that they're closing the doors on their Groove Music streaming service and are partnering with Spotify to unify Xbox users under one music platform.

The Groove Music Pass offered a service similar to that of Spotify's music-streaming capabilities, but it never took off quite as well as its competitor did. Groove Music Pass will be available till the end of this year, but after that, the service will no longer be available.

"After December 31, 2017, the Groove Music Pass streaming service will be discontinued," the announcement from Microsoft reads. "Before then, you'll be able to use your Groove Music Pass through the end of your subscription. If your Pass subscription goes beyond December 31, 2017, we will give you a prorated refund or a Microsoft gift card."

Updates will continue for the Groove Music app itself so that users can listen to the music that they've already purchased and downloaded, but the streaming capabilities will come to an end. For those that might already have subscriptions to the Groove Music Pass service that allows for continued streaming of music, there are plenty of circumstances outlined in the announcement where subscribers can get refunds on their subscriptions or continue with a Spotify subscription.

For those that still hope to listen to the tunes they've acquired through Groove Music, you'll be able to move your music over to Spotify after an update later this month.

"By mid-October, an update to the Groove Music app will be available for Windows 10 and Xbox One devices," the announcement reads. "Once the app is updated, Groove Music Pass subscribers will be able to move existing music collections and playlists to Spotify with just a few clicks. Groove Music Pass content will be available to move to Spotify until at least January 31, 2018."

The transition to Spotify appears to be pretty painless, but there are a few things that might not work out. Some songs available for the Groove Music Pass might not have a direct match on Spotify, so you might have to search a bit for a particular song. Editorial playlists also won't transfer over, so you'll have to create a new playlist for those.

Groove Music Pass will remain available until Dec. 31 when it completely shuts down.