Microsoft has announced, rather quietly, that the free Xbox Music streaming service will bite the dust on December 1st. This service allowed subscribers to stream unlimited music for the first six months after which they were limited to 10 hours of streaming per month, along with advertisements being played at regular intervals.
Now this doesn’t mean that Microsoft will no longer have a music streaming service. The company will only offer the paid service now, Xbox Music Pass, which costs $10 per month and enables users to stream unlimited music without advertisements.
Microsoft hasn’t revealed the reason behind the closure of its free music streaming service. It merely mentioned that the plug will be pulled on December 1st, 2014 in a FAQ page. Microsoft added that it is “focusing Xbox Music to deliver the ultimate music purchase and subscription service experience.”
The company has said that any music that customers bought through the Xbox Music service will continue to exist on their Windows computer, smartphone or tablet. Users’ own MP3 files added to the service will remain accessible as well.
As far as customized radio stations and playlists are concerned users will not be able to listen to the music in those collections unless they subscribe to Xbox Music Pass.
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