Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) said Tuesday it would entirely phase out its Google Play Music service in favor of YouTube Music by the end of this year.

What Happened

Play Music users can transfer their music libraries until December 2020 and will lose access to streaming in the coming months.

Beginning in September 2020, streaming services will end in New Zealand and South Africa, although users in those countries can still transfer their settings such as playlists, likes, uploads, and purchases until December, according to YouTube. In other markets, including the United States, music streaming will end in October.

Alphabet introduced a tool in May to help users transition between the two music streaming platforms seamlessly.

Why It Matters

YouTube Music has been revamping its “Now Playing” experience and has added the “Recent activity” carousel as a test in Brazil, according to 9to5Google.

Play Music has failed to gain traction against Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT) despite occupying prime real-estate on Alphbaet's mobile operating system Android, the dominating smartphone OS globally, the Street columnist Jon Markman noted.

The analyst said last month that YouTube Music “is likely to flounder,” adding, “Sorry, Google – you’re too little, too late.”

Price Action

Alphabet Class A shares traded 0.26% lower at $1,469.51 and Class C shares traded mostly flat at $1,464.40 in the pre-market session Wednesday.

See more from Benzinga

• Former Google, Uber Self-Driving Engineer Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison, Seeks .1B In Earnouts

• Square Reports Massive Q2 Earnings Beat, As Bitcoin Revenue Rises 600%

• Microsoft Commits To Become 'Zero Waste' Company By 2030, After Carbon Negative Pledge

© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.