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The new YouTube subscription could mean the end of Google Play Music

The Google-YouTube family has been moving forward on a new music subscription launch, but the latest reports point to the new service being a replacement rather than an addition to the portfolio. The service, internally dubbed YouTube Remix, may be intended to replace Google Play Music when it launches. Unnamed sources have told a few publications that the launch will mean the end of Google Play Music, although neither Google nor YouTube have confirmed that move. The current speculation is that Google Play Music could shutter before the end of 2018.

The teams working on YouTube Red, the joint audio and video subscription, and Google Play Music were merged last year. Few details were revealed about the motivation, but at the time it seemed to be a positive choice. Given Google’s proliferation of media services and confusing nomenclature, many users didn’t realize that YouTube Red and Google Play Music were connected. As Google is making a more concerted effort in the audio space, it would be logical for the two brands to offer more consistency in their products.

Anna Washenko

7 Comments

  1. So, does this mean that you won’t be able to purchase mp3s from Google anymore?

  2. Another thing that hasn’t been specified is what will happen to uploaded music. Google Play Music has a service like iTunes Match, where you can upload your music you’ve gotten elsewhere to Google’s “cloud”. Yet another good reason to back up your music on physical media (USB sticks, discs, etc.).

    • I second the importance of backing up your music on physical media. An album I purchased from iTunes got removed from my cloud library because the label made some changes to the album and I had to wind up repurchasing the album because of that.

      • This explains why us MP3 collectors should be worried about such changes.

        www(dot)pcworld(dot)com/article/3245408/data-center-cloud/microsoft-groove-music-app-mp3-player(dot)html

        • Apple/iTunes has the largest music selections to buy and/or stream, which is why they’ve been my primary source for downloads. The only thing holding me back from getting their Android app is that I don’t like that Apple charges a monthly fee for you to listen to music you’ve already purchased.

          • Totally agree. We shouldn’t have to pay $10 a month just to access music we’ve already purchased.

  3. This is a war on digital music collectors so that each big tech company can beef up their subscriber numbers and compete with (now public) Spotify. If you are a music collector, now is the time to secure your music. Make sure you have a copy of your music library on your hard drive or on a file storage service like Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive so you can keep accessing it without restrictions in the months and years to come.

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