Microsoft shuts down Zune Music Player, officially – and it was about time they did so. The Zune music service was dead and gone, its body tucked away in a coffin, and all the nails in place.
Zune was dead, but not a ghost town as Yahoo. A few users were still coming back to Microsoft’s music service, even though Xbox Music launched – which, by the way, is now called Groove Music.
On the 15th of November 2015, Microsoft discontinued the Zune service for good. It was a dark Sunday for some, and for others, it was just an average day. Lucky Zune users can’t download or stream content any more. The gate has been closed.
You can read the official Zune retirement FAQ for more details.
But don’t despair, die-hard Zune fans. Microsoft is trying to entice you, the Zune core, to switch to their Groove Music service – it’s the company’s music streaming platform that has about 38 million songs.
Those of you who own a Zune music device can continue to listen and transfer music as usual. Yet, if you plan on using these devices to side with Groove Music, you are out of luck. Zune devices aren’t Groove-enabled, the following are.
- Any Windows 10 capable device
- Xbox One
- Xbox 360
- iOS
- Android
- Sonos
- Any web browser
Unfortunately, don’t expect the same traits you used to have as a Zune user. The 10 free tracks per month feature is gone forever. Microsoft hasn’t specified if it will reiterate it within Groove Music, but I’m sceptical they ever will.
The main difference between Groove Music and Zune Music is that the Groove platform allows to store digital content on OneDrive – Zune didn’t. Also, the fact that Groove Music is available on a plethora of platforms – see above.
The Zune Player has been considered a failure since 2011 when reports showed really low sales. It was a means to compete with the ever-growing iTunes and the iPod era. Yet, Apple maintained its position as head dog, and controlled what music listeners tuned into. Hence, how now Apple Music has a big shot of becoming one of the biggest music streaming platforms in the world – along with Spotify and Google Play Music.
Microsoft’s Groove Music is witnessing more success than Zune. Go figure, giving users the possibility of listening to music on a plethora of devices and OSs actually means turning a profit.
If you are a Zune die-hard fan, you should know that if you want to switch over to Groove Music you have to cough up $9.99 a month. Want more? $99 per year to download and stream unlimited music.
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