You can no longer listen to your music using Google Play Music. However, your music library will remain intact and can still be transferred to YouTube Music.
Access will be removed in September for users in New Zealand and South Africa. Some users from all other regions will be revoked by October.
The service will shut down entirely in December, after which you won’t be able to transfer your content anymore. Additionally, starting later this August, Google will no longer accept purchases for music within its Play Store.
Schedule for Google Play Music shut down
“Earlier this year, we announced our plan to sunset the Google Play Music experience,” states in a support document from the company’s notes.
“Starting September 2020, users will begin losing access to Google Play Music. This means you will no longer be able to listen to your music using Google Play Music. However, your music library will remain intact and can still be transferred to YouTube Music – you will have a minimum of 30 days after losing access to Google Play Music to complete your transfer. Not all Google Play Music users will lose access at the same time. This will happen on an ongoing basis between September and December 2020.”
To make it more specific, here is the schedule you must remember:
August 2020. Access the Music Store upload it to Google’s Music app through Music Manager will start to go away.
September 2020. Access to Google Play Music has begun going away for some users.
December 2020. Access to Google Play Music for all users is gone.
Google announced its plans to replace Google Play Music with YouTube.
How to transfer and save music
All users of Google’s Music app should have received an email regarding this shutdown. They are also given detailed instructions on how the migration works, but mostly it’s as simple as downloading the YouTube Music app and clicking the transfer button.
If you don’t get the notice, worry no more. Here is the step by step procedure to successfully transfer and save your music.
Step 1. Download the YouTube Music app (iOS/Android).
Step 2. Click on your profile picture in the top right-hand corner.
Step 3. Touch Settings.
Step 4. Select Transfer from Google Play Music.
Step 5. That’s it. Your updated recommendations will appear immediately on the YouTube Music home screen, and Google will notify you when your music library transfer is complete.
According to TechRadar, Google is preparing to close down its long-running Play Music streaming service earlier this year. The company has enabled a new transfer function inside the YouTube Music app to bring your music, playlists, and preferences to their new home on YouTube.
Images used courtesy of CNET/YouTube Screenshot