Google Play Music dies this year, YT Music library imports begin today

Enlarge / Please don't hurt our music collections, Google. (credit: Google Play Music)

It has been two years since Google put Google Play Music on death row, and today Google finally announced the major step that will let it kill Google Music: YouTube Music library imports. People who were using Google Play Music as an online music locker can now import their uploaded music collections to YouTube Music, letting them leave Google Music behind forever. Leaving Google Music behind is going to be a non-optional situation, too: today's blog post includes the news that Google Play Music will be shut down "later this year," and Google says it will provide "plenty of notice" before the axe falls. RIP Google Music.

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View more storiesYouTube's Official Blog has the details on how exactly this is going to work, saying, "Starting today, we're excited to officially begin inviting Google Play Music listeners to effortlessly transfer their music libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to YouTube Music." YouTube's language that it's going to "begin inviting" people should let you know that this feature is on Google's frustrating "rollout" system, meaning it announces features and services before they are ready to be used by consumers and then takes weeks to deliver them to every Google account. If you can't transfer your music yet, keep waiting! Google says you'll get an email when the transfer process is enabled for your account.

If you have access to the feature, you'll be able to go to music.youtube.com/transfer (or hit a pop-up in the YouTube Music app) and begin the transfer. Google says "your uploads, purchases, added songs and albums, personal and subscribed playlists, likes and dislikes, curated stations and personal taste preferences will move right over." Apparently it's a one-click process, but in a video, Google says the transfer could take "a few seconds, or a few days, depending on how much content you have to move over."

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