Google Play Music, Music Play Store & Music Manager are going away – everything you need to know

We’re gradually going to shut down Google Play Music, the Music Store on Google Play and Music Manager soon, with everyone losing access in the months to come. You can read our full announcement here. This announcement follows the launch of our new migration process (back in May) which lets all Google Play Music listeners easily transfer their data and make the simple switch to YouTube Music. To know more about these shut downs and what it means for you, read on below. Which Google music services are shutting down/going away?

  • Google Play Music will be shutting down by December 2020 and starting September, members will begin to lose access to the service
  • Music Store (on Google Play) will begin to shut down in mid-August and you will no longer be able to purchase and pre-order music on the Play Store
  • Music Manager will shut down prior to this in mid-August as well

When will I lose access to Google Play Music?Starting in September, we will slowly begin to lock people out of Google Play Music, until we fully remove everyone’s access by December. If you’re locked out of the service, we won’t delete your music library just yet – you will be able to still transfer or download your data within 30 days of when you lose access or before Google Play Music shuts down in your territory. We’ll notify all users before they lose access to their Google Play Music library and data. How can I save my data and purchased and uploaded music before Google Play Music shuts down?If you want to save your Google Play Music data (including your purchases and uploads), you can either transfer it to YouTube Music or download it to your computer using Google Takeout. More on how to do that below!
You can transfer your data and purchased and uploaded music from Google Play Music to YouTube Music by following these steps: 

  • Visit https://music.youtube.com/transfer and click Transfer (OR)
  • Open the YouTube Music app > tap on your profile picture > Settings > Transfer from Google Play Music > Transfer from Google Play Music

You can download your GPM data and purchased and uploaded music using Google Takeout by following these steps: 

  • Head over to Google Takeout
  • Check the box next to Google Play Music and then click Next step
  • Select your choice of a delivery method, frequency and file type
  • Click Create export 

I have transferred my GPM data to YouTube Music / downloaded my GPM data and purchased and uploaded music to my computer. How can I now delete my data from Google Play Music?
You can easily delete all your Google Play Music data by following the steps below.
To delete your Google Play Music recommendations history:

  1. Go into your Google Play Music account settings
  2. Under Privacy & Location > Delete recommendation history > Click Delete

To delete your Google Play Music Library:

  1. Go into your Google Play Music account settings
  2. Under Privacy & Location > Delete my library > Click Delete

Note– Google will automatically delete all of your data once Google Play Music fully goes away in December. Once Google deletes your data, there will be no way to retrieve it again, so make sure you either transfer or download it before this happens.I currently pay for a Google Play Music subscription, what does this mean for me?If you’re currently paying for a Google Play Music subscription, you can easily transfer your monthly rate and billing details (including your billing date) to YouTube Music by using the transfer tool. If you decide not to transfer your data, your subscription will be automatically cancelled at the end of your billing cycle for the month in which Google Play shuts down in your Country (some time between September and December). Rest assured that we will notify you when this happens!When is the Google Play Store shutting down?Starting mid-August, the Music store on Google Play will gradually begin to shut down for members and you will no longer be able to make music purchases or pre-orders. You will be able to transfer all your existing music purchases (up to 100K songs) to YouTube Music using the transfer tool. Note– Pre-orders with a delivery date after the shut down will not be fulfilled, and you will not be charged. In case this happens, you will be notified via email of any pre-orders that have been cancelled.  
I do not want to pay for a streaming service and would like to buy individual songs & albums instead. How can I do this on YouTube Music?While you cannot purchase music from YouTube Music, you can do so from another store and upload that music into YouTube Music. This way, you can have your entire music library in one place. Note that you can play uploaded songs in the background, ad-free and offline with a free YouTube Music subscription. More on that here
What is happening to Music Manager?Music Manager (both on web as well as the Chrome extension) will also be going away in mid-August, after which you will no longer be able to automatically download from or upload to Google Play Music. You can still manually upload your owned music to YouTube Music via desktop. More on that here

– Hazel (TeamYouTube)DetailsTransfers from Google Play Music