Why I'm pissed off about the music pass death

[anon(10242418)]

I live in Greece. Here we couldn't subscribe. So it doesn't affect me directly. My main problem is the lack of trust i have in Microsoft right now. I was planning to go all in Microsoft ecosystem. I have planned to buy an Xbox. Should I ? Should I buy a Surface and get an office subscription. I don't like the Google nor apple ecosystems. In fact I was waiting groove to support Greece. Also, should we buy into the new Andromeda os ? Or should we move to android till Satya goes down?
Sorry for my bad English guys

 

[Bobvfr]

You think you are angry, three music pass holders in our flat, three Xbox Ones, three Surface pro's and Windows phones, I/we are fully into the Microsoft eco system.

Phone is now dead after limping along with so many dead ends, Skype a mess especially since they U turned from messaging and phone apps with integration between WP and Windows, I haven't mentioned Cortana because to be honest it's crap here in the UK.

I hate Google, really don't want to support Apple, but MS have got me so angry today, I am stopping all my current subscriptions to MS services when they come up for renewal, actively looking at other ways to have a simple one stop system (Because it is no longer MS). I have put up with the farce that is the Xbox TV guide (Honestly they could employ a two year old to do this with better results) because I wanted an integrated system.

I honestly couldn't recommend any one take on any MS based services any more.

I really like my Surface Pro4, it is my tablet, desktop and admittedly it can be a very un-lap able laptop, without a full suite of MS services I may as well look elsewhere for all of them.

Only last week I was on here asking that MS make a way to take my cherished mobile number and port it to my MS account so I could make and receive calls on all my MS devices.

No more, this is a crap decision and the end of MS in the consumer market. They just lost one Xbox One X sale from me.

 

[etphoto]

It really is hard for anyone to go with Microsoft when they announce new products or services. There is a grave yard of products and services that MS abandons so why should anyone invest in such products? If and when Microsoft's "new' Windows on Arm (or what ever its being called) comes out it makes one a little gun shy in moving in that direction. You kind of have to wait a few years to buy products to see if Microsoft will continue on with it or not.

Twitter: @PhotographyET

 

[LightenSkies]

Ok so services die. Hell it happens with even apple and android. Would the death of groove music make me not want to rock my Lumia 950? no... Would it ever change my mind to not buy another computer running windows 10?..... Once again no.... Would I never buy a surface if I had the money? Sure... Point is services do come to an end. I get why is everyone angry I was a bit myself as well though I sat here and thought well heck Windows XP is out of service and Windows Vista is out of service... Soon to be Windows 7 is out of service soon I believe... I don't see everyone getting mad about the money the spend on a OS after x y z of years that has passed.

None of us work for Microsoft and im sure they have logical reasons to close it down as they said.... Take a chill pill guys there other services from other company's. Let Groove pass in peace. It had it run now it time to go.

 

[Sedp23]

I had groove free until next March. Disappointed with them scrapping groove it's one of their best apps and was making progress with new features. I was contemplating switching to Spotify any way because the android groove app is trash and I recently dropped windows phone and went Android. Glad they made it easy to go over to Spotify by moving my playlists over. I did that yesterday and removed groove off my phone. I'm going to sign up for the 60 day trial of Spotify in a couple days. RIP Groove

 

[geordie stead]

Just cancelled my subscription last night after moving all playlists to Spotify supposed to get 60days free not seen anything they will give me 30 days i think it needs sorting still a free account at min I'm not very happy but i own a Lumia 950 so I'm used to being kicked in the nuts even ee my provider removed there app ha ha

 

[beman39]

Ok so services die. Hell it happens with even apple and android. Would the death of groove music make me not want to rock my Lumia 950? no... Would it ever change my mind to not buy another computer running windows 10?..... Once again no.... Would I never buy a surface if I had the money? Sure... Point is services do come to an end. I get why is everyone angry I was a bit myself as well though I sat here and thought well heck Windows XP is out of service and Windows Vista is out of service... Soon to be Windows 7 is out of service soon I believe... I don't see everyone getting mad about the money the spend on a OS after x y z of years that has passed.

None of us work for Microsoft and im sure they have logical reasons to close it down as they said.... Take a chill pill guys there other services from other company's. Let Groove pass in peace. It had it run now it time to go.

spotify does not work well on WP! so why are we upset you ask? because the alternatives just weren't compiled that well for our Wp's, not like it is for android counter parts and IOS, they got more love than our WP... so we users of groove have a reason to be upset! I use groove almost exclusively because it worked the best on my WP.... so now what choice do I have to use as my music player/streaming content?

 

[wpcautobot]

I'm done too... This was it for me.

 

[Random Thoughts]

None of us work for Microsoft and im sure they have logical reasons to close it down as they said.... Take a chill pill guys there other services from other company's. Let Groove pass in peace. It had it run now it time to go.

I have, nearly 20 years between consulting, contracting, and being an actual FTE on campus in Redmond and Issaquah.

Let's put it this way. After the experiences I've had trying to get my remaining 25-months credited back to my account I will no longer be investing into any Microsoft ecosystem when that's a feasible option.

I say that as a nearly 20-year veteran of Microsoft having worked on Xbox and related teams for a majority of my on-campus working career.

I'm friends with many of the folks in support, Groove, Xbox, Windows, Office, etc.

I know these people. I've been camping with them. I've been white-water rafting with them. I've been there for proposals, weddings, births...so it's a sad day for me when I can say that I no longer want to support my friends teams. I can't because I can't trust that corporate won't yank the rug out and then try to leave customers high and dry like they are doing with me.

It's ridiculous.

 

[LightenSkies]

I have, nearly 20 years between consulting, contracting, and being an actual FTE on campus in Redmond and Issaquah.

Let's put it this way. After the experiences I've had trying to get my remaining 25-months credited back to my account I will no longer be investing into any Microsoft ecosystem when that's a feasible option.

I say that as a nearly 20-year veteran of Microsoft having worked on Xbox and related teams for a majority of my on-campus working career.

I'm friends with many of the folks in support, Groove, Xbox, Windows, Office, etc.

I know these people. I've been camping with them. I've been white-water rafting with them. I've been there for proposals, weddings, births...so it's a sad day for me when I can say that I no longer want to support my friends teams. I can't because I can't trust that corporate won't yank the rug out and then try to leave customers high and dry like they are doing with me.

It's ridiculous.

Company's change man and that what bites im sure when you were there it was different. Im sure if you went there it will be different again. Nothing stays the same forever is my point.

I never worked for Microsoft. Though I do wonder what 10 years or so what will happen with Microsoft. With the rise of Android that can even be installed on a computer or laptop. It won't surprise me if it becomes the new OS of choice for gaming. Its just a matter of time.

 

[Random Thoughts]

Company's change man and that what bites im sure when you were there it was different. Im sure if you went there it will be different again. Nothing stays the same forever is my point.

I never worked for Microsoft. Though I do wonder what 10 years or so what will happen with Microsoft. With the rise of Android that can even be installed on a computer or laptop. It won't surprise me if it becomes the new OS of choice for gaming. Its just a matter of time.

The weird part is that I left just barely over a year ago. So it hasn't been this huge gap of time. This has been a very fast change with very hostile moves towards customers.

With the Band and Band 2 at least they did right by most customers. With my Lumia 950 XL though I was told by multiple sources that no replacement battery for my failing one could be obtained. I would have to buy from eBay or an Amazon marketplace seller selling either used or third-party manufactured batteries of who knows what quality.

I didn't feel that was a good idea so continued to use the phone as the only real issues were it running a bit hotter, sometimes rebooting, and the like. Then one night the screen cracked while I had it sitting next to me charging. I'm not sure if it was the heat from the battery (as it could get quite warm while charging) or some other flaw that just cropped up at random.

Since I couldn't get any help for the battery initially I'm loathe to see find out what experience I'm going to have trying to get this replaced. The local MS store told me no go as they don't have anything to replace it with. They said the larger stores might be able to, so I'll have to venture there. I'm just lucky I had a spare 950 (non-XL) to keep me going for the meanwhile.

Then to have this happen with Groove and my experiences with support. This is something I would never have stood for while there. I was always the type to speak my mind, regardless of the cost (personal or professional) and still am.

Luckily my posts about this on Twitter and Reddit have garnered some attention so I have higher level folks looking in just what's going on now.

 

[Sedp23]

I have, nearly 20 years between consulting, contracting, and being an actual FTE on campus in Redmond and Issaquah.

Let's put it this way. After the experiences I've had trying to get my remaining 25-months credited back to my account I will no longer be investing into any Microsoft ecosystem when that's a feasible option.

I say that as a nearly 20-year veteran of Microsoft having worked on Xbox and related teams for a majority of my on-campus working career.

I'm friends with many of the folks in support, Groove, Xbox, Windows, Office, etc.

I know these people. I've been camping with them. I've been white-water rafting with them. I've been there for proposals, weddings, births...so it's a sad day for me when I can say that I no longer want to support my friends teams. I can't because I can't trust that corporate won't yank the rug out and then try to leave customers high and dry like they are doing with me.

It's ridiculous.

What happened trying to get credited back to your account?

 

[Random Thoughts]

What happened trying to get credited back to your account?

Still working on it a week later. Basically very inconsistent answers from agents, agents not properly updating or reading notes on the account, agents hanging up on me, agents trying to tell me things like where the pass was purchased matters as the retailer should give me a refund for the redeemed pass, things like that.

Basically just a very unfriendly and hostile experience at almost every turn

The opposite of what I stood for when I was in the upper echelons of support at Microsoft.

Evidently my documenting the process on social media has attracted the attention of some folks and I should be getting a call either tomorrow or Tuesday from a senior engineer from main campus.

It also has attracted a guy from the Xbox forums (non-staff, just a preview member) to start stalking and trolling me too. He's upset that I've called him out for bashing MS about bugs in Alpha Ring software and so he thinks it's hypocritical that I'm upset about an actual real world issue.

 

[darrell reimer]

I'm super sad to see Groove go, especially when we're being 'directed' to Spotify. This app is terrible on my 950 XL. Totally unreliable; a mess! It works great on my computer, but the Windows phone app is almost useless...

 

[Larry Grouse]

Did you ever get it to work on your 950XL? I have a 640 and while the Spotify app "works" the playback is very choppy when I use with Bluetooth. And this is even with music downloaded on to my phone

 

[darrell reimer]

I have to restart my phone, and then it works for a while. It's just so temperamental; keeps starting and stopping in the middle of songs. Always get 'resuming' or 'loading', then it locks up. Really frustrating. Sad.......Groove worked perfectly...

 

[anon(10242418)]

Try an app called StopMusic. Someone on reddit suggested it.

 

[CX1]

I liked Grove for cheap money when I signed up but came to prefer it. The apps are actually good now! Spotify has good content but the app is nightmare. Sensory overload UI hell. Wife like Tidal best but half of things I search are not available.

I am wondering when the movie and tv shop will close? And if I will be able to D/L purchased items. When purchased a few years ago they claimed ios and android apps were in the works. Never happened.

 

[Darkgift]

Just cancelled my subscription last night after moving all playlists to Spotify supposed to get 60days free not seen anything they will give me 30 days i think it needs sorting still a free account at min I'm not very happy but i own a Lumia 950 so I'm used to being kicked in the nuts even ee my provider removed there app ha ha

you have to follow the link in the Groove app to get the 60 days, otherwise its just 30.

 

[neilbey]

I live in Greece. Here we couldn't subscribe. So it doesn't affect me directly. My main problem is the lack of trust i have in Microsoft right now. I was planning to go all in Microsoft ecosystem. I have planned to buy an Xbox. Should I ? Should I buy a Surface and get an office subscription. I don't like the Google nor apple ecosystems. In fact I was waiting groove to support Greece. Also, should we buy into the new Andromeda os ? Or should we move to android till Satya goes down?
Sorry for my bad English guys

I am all in on the MS ecosystem currently (still using my groove music pass until the bitter end). I think people (at least average consumers) are right to move to other platforms too. I just switched to android for my phone (LG G6 - you can pick em up for pretty cheap now) from my old 950xl and the reason for that is that I'm not having any degradation of service with regards to the multiple MS services I am invested in (O365, Xbox live, skype, groove music, edge browser). It's definitely the platform I would recommend for someone looking to invest in MS services, because of the customization options.

That being said, I'm typically more on the enterprise side of things, and choose to stick close to MS services for that reason. I generally wasn't concerned with having "all the apps" that IOS and Android have simply because I don't use them or need them.

The point that I am leading to that addresses your concerns about trusting MS to not drop support for all their non-enterprise stuff, is that after somewhat pulling back recently from consumer-level stuff (groove music, windows 10 mobile) to focus on being more enterprise-level, they really can't afford to drop their other consumer-level products and services (Xbox live and hardware, surface hardware, individual-level office subscriptions, etc). Beside the fact that all of what is left of these consumer-level services and products are all good money-makers for MS (which groove music pass, and windows 10 mobile were not), dropping anything more will risk them losing a lot of mindshare with the buying public.

I definitely think the windows core OS (formerly known as Andromeda OS) is going to be really cool, but not very appealing to non-enterprise customers (so, the average buying public). The devices that will be running this new iteration of the OS are going to be, essentially, mini-pc's, which are inherently productivity machines. Since MS is increasingly migrating towards enterprise more, and with a still solid offering with their consumer-focused products and services (Xbox gaming and hardware, surface hardware, etc), I'm willing to bet their next phone-like device category won't be focused in that area.