Newsletter
Google has begun shutting down Google Play Music in September 2020. As announced earlier, the company has now completely pulled the plug on its older music streaming service worldwide. The newer YouTube Music is currently the only music streaming service from the search giant.
As of now, the company is allowing GPM users to transfer their data, including playlists and uploads, to YouTube Music. Notably, this option will also be gone by the end of this month. If you didn’t know, Google Play Music first stopped working for users in South Africa and New Zealand.
Google completely shuts down Google Play Music globally
It gradually stopped working for users across the globe starting in October this year. Meanwhile, the company first started transitioning to YouTube Music in May this year when it offered a data migration tool to transfer recommendations, playlists, and uploaded content.
Currently, users can only fully access YouTube Music through the mobile app and desktop website. While GPM is also available on smart TVs and smartwatches, there is no replacement smartwatch app for YouTube Music users. Speaking of the YouTube Music for Android TV app, Google only added the YouTube Music section within the YouTube app.
There is no YouTube Music app for smartwatches yet
While the YouTube Music app on smart TVs received several new features with the most recent update, it’s still not a full-fledged app when compared to rivals like Spotify. For those users who have moved to other music streaming services, Google offers the option to export local playlists as well.
The Google Play Music website also shows options to manually delete the recommendation history and music library. However, this data will automatically be deleted by the end of this month. Nevertheless, Google is also continuously adding new features to its de facto music streaming service.
The recent update introduced the ‘Quick Picks’ section for quickly playing auto-generated radio playlist. Google also added an activity bar for accessing featured playlists like Workout, Focus, Relax, and Commute. The app now shows personalized ‘My Mix’ playlists on the home screen for listening to songs based on different moods and genres.
If you have moved from Google Play Music to YouTube Music, the “Year in Review” playlist will shows your most played songs of this year. Also, users can ask Google Assistant on their smartphone or smart speaker to play the custom playlists on YouTube Music.