Microsoft is divesting from its music streaming service, Xbox Music that was rebranded as Groove Music in 2012. However, the service is not being shut completely and customers will be migrated over to Spotify.
Starting January 2018, the Groove Music app will support playback and management of owned music but will no longer allow customers to stream, purchase or download music. The app won’t support music that has been downloaded but not purchased. Users will have to download all of the music purchased through the Groove Music app before January 1, to be able to migrate their libraries to Spotify and access them.
To facilitate this transition the Groove Music app offers an update that is available immediately to Windows Insiders and will be public in the coming week. As a welcome note, Spotify is set to offer a 60-days free subscription to the Premium plan, to Groove Pass users who have never been a Spotify customer.
Detailed instructions on how to make the transition are available on the Windows Blog.
