Google Play Music is going away very soon - to be replaced with YouTube Music, here's what you need to know and do

 

YT Music will replace Google Play Music officialy by the end of this year. Are you willing to make the switch?

It's official. Google has decided to kill off Play Music starting in October 2020, in favor of YouTube Music. Many people have been distraught by this decsion, giving the fact that YT Music is not a streaming music service, it's a streaming video service built as a streaming music platform.

You have two choices. One, you can transfer your Play Music data over to YT music, or two, you can download your GPM data via Google Takeout, and migrate it over to a competing platform.

Option one - Transfer to YT Music

If you choose to transfer to YT Music, let's get one thing straight. Nothing will work at all (even your uploaded or purchased music from GPM) unless if you pay for YT premium. You won't be able to download, listen to in the background, or cast any music (including your own) unless if you have an active YouTube premium subscription. If you're willing to cough up $12 a month for this service, then it might be the best choice for you. Otherwise, just skip to option two.

Option two - Download your data via Google Takeout and transfer to a competior

This is probably going to be the perfered approach for many people that I know, since YouTube is supposed to be free, rather than being a Netflix/Hulu clone. You can access Google Takeout at takeout.google.com, then you can download all your GPM data there. Not only will this include your music, but it will also include metadata, your radio stations, your likes, and everything else. Then, you can migrate this data to a competing streaming service, and I have currently two of mentioning for you:

Apple Music - $9.99/month

If you're looking for another service that has an upload tool, then this is your only other viable option. You use the Apple Music app on your Mac (or the dated iTunes software on PC :sigh:) to upload your MP3 collection to the iCloud, which you can then stream on any device. The app is still very slow, buggy, and has crashed multiple times for many users on Android devices, so unless if you're willing to set-up a Plex server (which you also must pay for to listen to music via a Plex Pass), then you're better off getting an iPhone. Right now, the most affordable iPhone as of 2020 is the iPhone SE 2nd generation, but it has dated hardware, and has a much smaller screen compared to the newest iPhones, but it has the same Fusion chip as in the iPhone 11, and it gets the latest iOS updates until about 2024, so it might be a great choice if you have to make the switch. It's currently starts at $399 for a 64GB version, but you have to buy from the official Apple website if you want to get an unlocked version of this phone.

Get Apple Music >

Spotify - $9.99/month; also available for free

If you don't want to buy Apple's overpriced products just to use Apple Music, then Spotify would probably be a more viable option. Spotify probably has the same number of songs that both GPM and YTM has, and you can use the thumbs up and other metadata you downloaded via takeout to add to your collection on Spotify. Sadly, they don't have an upload tool, but their catalog is pretty huge (not as huge as Apple Music though :sigh:) compared to the smaller streaming services. They also have a free tier service available, so you can test drive their service before your willing to pay for it. The paid version let's you play whatever you want on-demand, while the free version forces you to listen to radio stations based on your playlists (advertised on mobile as Shuffle Play) so unless if your more of a Pandora fan, then you're better off with paying for the service.

Get Spotify >

Here's a quick timeline of all the events of what's happening to Play Music:

August 2020 - Google will shut down the Browse Music section of the Play Store, which means you won't be able to purchase any more music via Play Music, and any pre-orders you made will be cancelled.

September 2020 - Play Music will fully shut down in certain international territories, including Austrila, making the app inacessible in those areas.

October 2020 - Play Music will fully shut down worldwide, including the United States, making the app fully inacessible, and will be removed from the Play Store.

November/December 2020 - You have two months to either transfer your data to YTM, or download your data via Takeout. On December 31, Google will purge all GPM data from their servers, so if you do not download or transfer your data until then, then you will lose everything.

What are your thoughts about this reckless choice that Google is making? Are you going to buy YouTube? Are you going to jump ship? Are you going to buy the over-priced iPhone? Let me know in the comments below!