Google Play Music

Google Play Music blended a personal music locker with streaming and a library built from years of MP3s.

The personal music locker made the service more than a catalog to browse. A listener could bring an existing collection into the same routine as streamed music, carrying years of accumulated tracks into a newer way of listening. That connection mattered to people whose libraries had a history before streaming subscriptions.

The transition to YouTube Music therefore involved a change in habits as well as a change of app. An established library is also a set of organizational choices and listening routines, which can make the loss of a familiar player feel unusually personal.

Google migrated listeners to YouTube Music and closed the service.