Google Play Music officially shut down

The move had been in the pipeline for more than a year. Last year, Google replaced GPM with YouTube Music as the preinstalled app on new Android devices.

Since June, Google has also been communicating with users about how they can transfer music and other content from GPM to YouTube Music. However, the transfer process is inconsistent, with some playlists not transferring at all.

The GPM website now displays a banner that reads “Google Play Music is no longer available”. There’s also an option to either transfer your music to the new platform or download the full library.

However, the shutdown is happening in phases, with some GPM users still able to access the service. Users with an updated GPM app can revert to an older version until the phase-out affects them. Turning off app updates could also work temporarily.

One thorny issue for GPM users is that there is no easy way to export locally stored data. Users who have already downloaded music for offline listening can’t manage that content anywhere in the app, yet it still takes up space on their device. Users need to uninstall the app to get that space again, which can be a hassle on older devices.

GPM was Google’s first music streaming experiment. It lasted for nine years in the US and was introduced to South Africa and other parts of Africa in 2015. 

Additionally, YouTube Music is not on par with GPM in terms of features, and some artists who were available on GPM are now missing from the YouTube Music catalogue. YouTube Music also hides uploaded music in a location of its own.

Meanwhile, YouTube Music’s #SOSFest has raised more than $1.8m to support NIVA’s campaign to aid independent music venues in the US.

The music streaming platform is already planning its next online festival called #FoundryFest. The event will be an on-demand video series, which will focus on artists who took part in YouTube’s Foundry programme. African artists such as Tems and Rema were previously added to the programme.