Microsoft shutters Groove streaming music service, sends customers to Spotify

Never shy about killing off unprofitable businesses, Microsof has decided to end its Groove streaming music service and is now sending Groove customers to market leader Spotify. Microsoft will shut down its Groove Pass music streaming service on December 31st and will no longer sell music or provide a music streaming service (It will, however, continue to sell TV shows and movies). Hit jump for details.

The Groove app will continue as a music playback and management tool, Microsoft is getting Groove users to move over to Spotify which is the streaming market leader (with 60 million paid subscribers). Microsoft put some positive spin on the closure, "we’re excited to announce that we’re expanding our partnership with Spotify to bring the world’s largest music streaming service to our Groove Music Pass customers. Beginning this week*, Groove Music Pass customers can easily move all their curated playlists and collections directly into Spotify. Plus, you may be eligible for a 60-day free trial of Spotify Premium," the company posted on its blog.

Connecting Groove to Spotify makes it possible to move purchased music to the Spotify service. There's still no way to upload existing music collection to Spotify, which is annoying to say the least.