Farewell, Zune; today is the final day for all Zune services

No.

I dont think that people didn't buy enough. It was not available outside us if I am right. Did not get any chance to buy one here in Germany.

Its like so many MS products.  They purposfully limit them to US customers only despite demand from elsewhere in the world, then claim to not understand why it didn't sell as much as they wanted. I still can't get a couple of Xbox accessories here in Oz even though they've been available in the US and europe for months. Also, the original Zune 30 was a rebranded Toshiba Gigabeat.  Many peopel forget that.

If it won't sell in the US, why would any other country be different? Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Lol hd was only available in Canada for 6 months till the announcement & the originals site was the only was to get zune products tax free

Groove has a lot of catching up to do, but still it is better than xbox music and is improving everyday.

How is it better?

Yes.  Please explain how it's better!  I can surely describe to you how it's not!  But since you've made such a statement go ahead and explain.  Truthfully I don't even think you used ZUNE, especially on Windows Phone. 

Groove is better than xbox music and everybody knows that.

...

The name alone is horrible. How can it be better than Xbox Music?

he said xbox music, not zune.

Yeah, I know that.  But this article was about Zune.  I believe he's equating Xbox Music with Zune because he thinks they are one of the same so I responded in kind.  But that said, I don't see any appreciable difference between Xbox Music and Groove music.  And neither can compare to Zune IMO. 

Nah, he was comparing groove with xbox music, and groove is way better than xbox music, there isnt ANYTHING that xbox music could do that groove cant now, and there is a lot that groove can do now, that xbox music couldn't

It seems like all they changed was the logo, what can Groove do that Xbox Music could not???

Well for starters, it loads meta data correctly, it also allows for audio scrubbing and gapless playback as well as landscape support. thats not all thats jsut what comes to mind imediately.

Guzfrabba dude, none of this is serious enough to get that worked over.

I agree. Awesome UI and was also hoping MS would continue on with the format. No improvement's with new music program so I cancelled my long time subscription. Currently using Amazon Music on my Surface Pro 3 and like it a lot.

Spotify is 100xbetter than Amazon.

But Amazon Music comes "free" with your Prime subscription. Plus, you can't store your own files on Spotify.
I too made the switch to Amazon music and though I'll admit that the free streaming catalog is much larger in Groove, it will save me money in the long run. Also, I trust Amazon staying in the streaming business more than I trust Microsoft.

Mine is still my go to music device. I just have a copy of Zune software in my OneDrive for when I change PCs.

That Zune desktop app is still fantastic.  I use it daily.

Actually mp3 players in general were being left in the dust.  They were all replaced by smart phones.

But i just bought Sony Walkman mp3. Yeah you are right anyway they are selling less now a days.

Too bad ... But anyway twas good whiles it lasted. The UI though- great!

I received that email a few days ago telling me I successfully changed my service to groove music pass, I'm gonna miss my 10 free songs per month.

Yeah, I'm actually debating cancelling my service now... That email pissed me off...

The only reason I kept the music pass originally was being grandfathered in the 10 songs a month. I'm definitely going to cancel.

Last December I bought a 12 month Xbox Music subscription for $29.00. Just hold out for that promo at least!

And if you miss that, wait for pi day when it's 31.4 dollars.

My 10 songs replenishes on 12th of each month. I see that I have 10 to use. Wonder if I have to use the 10 songs by the end of the day?

Since the servers will be shut off my guess is yes you do...

But in the past couple of months, I've used the 10 songs through Groove. I'm gonna use then today just in case...

I forgot to use my credits yesterday. However, I was able to use some of them in Groove just now.

But you have unlimited song downloads with groove music pass.

But I moved to an area with crappy cell service and I'm constantly getting "fetching rights" errors. On my 1520 with Xbox music, if I got the error when shuffling, it simply skipped the song and went to the next. Now with my 640xl and Groove, when I get the error, the player stops! Totally sucks when that happens while driving!

After the July or august update I believe, that hasn't happened to me anymore.

Same thing happens to me!!! Nothing sadder than a drive with no music

The old anual pass basically paid for itself with the free downloads. You got to own 10 per month from the old pass, as well as download unlimited, the new pass is music rental only.

Sad sad sad. Me too.

Still waiting on my refund email as I cancelled.

Yes, me too. I had missed the email announcing the change and thought it had something to do with my credit card. So I made a big fool of myself on support chat.

Long live Poop, I mean Groove, Music...

Good device, great name, logo and desktop music player. MS just released it too late (like WP in general). Imo, they dumped that branding too soon. Xbox never made sense and Groove is a dumb name.

Sounds better than Zune. Lol I'm just sayin...

and how exactly did "iPod" sound any better as a name?

The iPod is a completely different brand from a completely different company with a different philosophy
So your comparison doesn't make sense Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

It does, your judging a weird name from a first time product, IPod sounds no better than Zune if you take away its massive popularity, if the Zune had taklen off, zune wouldnt sound weird at all.

Exactly. Groove is such a horrible name.

I'm just curios, what would people like it to be called that sounds better. Groove makes sense, since that's what people tend to do to music...they Groove. Beats music service name made sense, too because music tend to have beats and rhythm. Ahhh...Rhythm! Yeah, that sounds good, right? Hey, people are entitled to their opinions, but I'm just curious.

No. Zune was a copy of iTunes + iPod. Windows Phone is an original idea. That is the difference.

I just remembered windows phone 7 :(

Um...Zune desktop will still be available for download?

I downloaded it agian just in case

This^
Gonna quickly download the exe just in case!!

Won't matter if they shut the back end services off

You can still use it for locally stored media... It's way better than Groove

Its great for local files

And if you still have a Zune player, it is the ONLY way you can put new media on it. It never was seen as a removable drive to which you could just copy music.

It's just for locally managing my Zunes. Don't wanna suddenly realize I can no longer find the setup file!

Why do you want the Zune desktop client??? It's totally garbage, it destroyed my entire music collection and I had to manually key the details back in. It's the stupidest software ever. I'm glad it's dead and I hope it doesn't ever get to see the light of day again.

you're high

No.  YOU destroyed your stuff.  Zune does NOTHING to files unless YOU tell it to. Buit I suppose you'd rather use itunes and self flagelate.

Can't sync my Lumia 900 anymore...

Really? Dude!!!

It's time for you to upgrade then. Lumia 950?

I still use hte Zune software for local tunes. WAY better than iTunes  

Zune desktop has yet to be topped. God knows why MS cant make Groove as good as Zune used to be... so frustrating.

If it wasn't for the ZUNE HD UI I wouldn't have switched day one to WP7 Series. Farewell, bro!

Is there any info on what we get with what's left over from our 10 credit subscription? I hope they extend it out further or something since that plan cost more than 9.99/mo plus we all paid in advance which should net you something.

I've been wondering the same thing, my annual subscription renewed last month.

Mine renewed in July. Wasn't it $129/yr?

Ironically I remember seeing the Zune in the store for the first time and going through the UI I said if this was a phone this would be pretty good....almost 10 years ago

Zune was designed very good,up until now they were never able to duplicate the Zune experience, on windows and windows phone. On my Zune hd it shuffled all my music perfect, something Xbox music , grove music failed terribly at. They could have integrated Zune into windows amd stuck with it, sometime Microsoft has no clue what they are doing. Up until now they don't know the mobile market very well for a company that created the market in the first place. I am counting down for when windows mobile fails again, project Astoria was the last chance to compete and they blew it. They are better off doing like black berry and running all their software on a modified android

You are mad. Yes Zune was good but that does not mean wm10 is bad, its actually the best mobile os till date.

Many think 8.1 is better than 10.

Nah 8.1 sucks. Nobody wants to go back to that.

Yeah, nobody. Go read the forums. You have zero clue what you are talking about.

I can agree to that. I reset my phone back to 8.1, when the Win 10 mobile 3 update ago had the resuming and loading issues. It was almost like going back to WP 7. Win 10 Mobile may not be perfect, but way better than what it was, even with it being a TP, IMO. I can't honestly think of anything that I miss about WP8.1. The good thing is, unlike it's predecessors, we should see more frequent updates, if MS stays on course with this. It took a whole year plus to get updates! As for Groove, I find it much better to use than Zune. It's much more straight forward than Zune was, despite the UI differences, and the fact that it plays your Onecloud music is a plus. I don't store any music on my phone, unless I know I'm going to be somewhere without service or internet. I think Groove will become much better over time. There is always room for improvement.

You're kidding right.  Its a jumbled mess compared to the old zune app.  Its exactly trhe same as what they've done with the NXOE, made everything more difficult to find and use, and changed the focus to trying to sell you stuff you don't want. I just want to play MY OWN music but thats the last thing MS wants me to do based on their design of every new UI they squirt onto my devices.

I agree with the music shuffling, groove always makes the same songs pop up

Get Spotify. It's awesome.

Spotify+TuneBite+iTunes Match=64Gb full of music on my Lumia.

I will be shredding a year for another great, and underappreciated device. It happens far too often...

As Carter said in Family Guy, to Bill Gates...." I can't get my Zune to work. Can you have a look at it?" At which point he pulls it out if his jacket and says, " Oh, I have an iPod like everybody else the planet". Unfortunately, sad but true.....

I have to search for that episode!

Here you go :D youtube.com/watch?v=gW6u0PP7vro

Omgggggg jhakahjahak
I actually believe that's accurate lol

I remembers my zinehd got stolen so I was like hey might as well buy this windows phone cuz it has zune built in and here I am. Still say Zune was the Best music player I ever had

That's exactly what happened to me

If there was an real app store... Maybe

I have no idea why Zune got a bad rep. The players (in general) stored a lot more songs than an iPod, the touch pad made more sense than the ones on iPod, and the Zune desktop software was (and still is) leagues better than iTunes. Not to mention Zune was a better name than Xbox Music and Groove Music.

Apple people just bashed it because they didn't want any competition. They never even touched the thing but attacked it to no end even though it was far superior to the iPods.

So many reviews gave it bad scores because "its not an ipod".

The first one was ugliest thing I've seen (in pictures). You can't get back from that.

Wen Windows Phone..

RIP.  I still use my Zune HD almost daily, and use the Zune software to play music on my computers.

I use my Zune HD daily also via Kia Uvo, but I like to use Groove on my PC, tablet, and phone.

I remember using several Wal-Mart gift cards from previous Christmas' to buy my 32gb Zune HD. I played a lot of music and podcasts on it. The lack of an external speaker and MS piss-poor marketing dept killed it.

Also lack of Bluetooth

Sad day

I don't use Zune, but I'm disappointed that a lot of the apps on windows phone are getting discontinued which makes me a little worried

Only Zune wer introduced in India..and they closing their service
Till now groove music player not introduces in india

After reading comments, I'm gonna install the software on my VAIO!!

Yes!! Zune software is awesome!

Great! We can all downgrade to Xbox Music....er wait....Groove....or what ever the hell they are calling that crap today.

I appreciate good services and software, but seriously, can we get over this already!? Sheesh....

Stellar UI for an mp3 player especially on the Zune HD. I use it daily but maybe not for long. I still have the old Halo collectors Zune & a couple of 4, 16, small players. Had high hopes on MS moving forward with the UI but...wahnt wahnt waah. Groove is not even close to being that kind of a player.

Ya-ba-da-ba-bo-hoo, say it ain't so. ...ZuneHD was a very good player and an excellent music experience. Sadly, however its time has past, and although Groove is lacking in some (many) areas, it is a decent music application. I feel that it is an improvement over Xbox music, and I believe MSFT will get  Groove to a point where it'll be one of the best premium music services available. Funny how Zune (oon) and Groove (oov), actually sound alike!

Zune, I'll never know why people disliked you.

Can we petition to have MS switch Groove back to Zune and actually make a decent music player for windows 10? I never owned a Zune unfortunately, but from what I've heard, everyone loved the UI and people actually bought WP because their Zune worked so well they decided, why not? MS is heading in the right and wrong direction recently, and they just need to listen to their fans and people who actually give a damn about the product.

Hate to burst your bubble, one entry had alooooot of votes on uservoice and it was closed down (the entry not uservoice)..

UserVoice was s sham anyway and its being closed down shortly. NONE of the user connents and feedback were ever taken in, and no changes ever resulted.  It was just a cynical way for MS to let ppl bitch but not have to actually do anything.

I loved it and I miss it. From my perspective it was a very strange situation that didn't quite make sense. I get that PR departments sometimes change products names to increase sales and that new hardware and software sometimes requires a program to be re-written, but how someone sold the idea, or worse, how MS agreed to replace it with something so inferior thinking they were helping the platform is really disturbing to me. I remember back in the day thinking that this was nothing short of sabotage to WinP and that an investigation should have been launched. After all, who needs tough competition and seemingly impossible odds when you have an uncanny ability to self destruct? Also, the outcry and demand about Zune and XBM early shortcomings from the fan base meant nothing to MS. Something about how it all went down seems suspicious to me. Anyway, time moved on....oh well. Now I'm just hoping for something like a proper L1020 replacement to get exited about WinP again.

Sucks for anyone that still uses the Zune software on their PC (it really is/was quite good). At least the service, and those who subscribe to it, aren't completely screwed since their subs will still work on Groove.  Plus, the Groove software is on a multitude of platforms. The biggest hassle for many is likely finding and re-downloading all the Zune-DRM tracks.

Why?  The software still works amazingly for local content and podcasts.  I forsee myself using it for many years to come as there is still nothing that even comes close to its ease of use and great design, plus I have a few Zunes from all models I still need to use it with.  

The  zune isn't compatible with groove. You have to update to windows10 & use a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop to STREAM your music while you are online or somehow figure out how to make OneDrive sync up with groove to use it offline. That is the one thing I don't need, streaming. There are plenty of times when I am not able to be online & to be using up my data plan & drain my battery isn't a plus that I would continue to pay for. There are programs out there that can convert music from other providers to play on the zune, so why can't MS do the same for the zune community?

Thanks for the memories Zune, I love my 32HD still to this day, and use it in the gym, at home with the dock, amazing! Sad loss

It was great for it's time. I still have a Zune Hd 64 fb, but haven't used it for some time. Granted, WP is not as good, but is it good enough and it does Bluetooth phones and car radios, some the Zune could not do.

I still have all 3  veritons

My htc trophy wont work any more?

Wait can I still use Zune software?

Yes

Yep, though its not on the zune.net page anymore. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9753463 Still works though.

For now, sooner or later when services move to different display types and formatting, the Zune client will stop working, at least parts of it...

Shedding tears:(

Noooooooo!

Auf wiedersehen*

An aweome brand name, probably the best in MS history, dead. It's sad.

Rip. We're still waiting for all your features cone back

Crying rn

"The last vestiges of Microsoft's Zune brand are officially ending today." Maybe to you. I still run Zune software as my default music player and have no plan to change to another one.

Zune 80 still kicking here. I bet this Lumia 1520 will die way before the Zune.

Imo I think Microsoft decision in the last couple years will pay off eventually in the future. Is all about adapting and Microsoft is trying to build something that will eventually fit into everyone of us. I know groove has a lot to be improve, one drive drastically change was something not please to anyone, but think about, millions of people creating fake accounts and in the end 15 Gb is a lot. Do the math 15 x 1 million users that's 15,000 TB. That is a lot and I think this is why the reason Microsoft is cutting the service. Because think about nothing is free in life. Nothing not even the air we breath because if u don't eat or drink water u don't have energy to annihilate air. So think about Microsoft is a business company and want to make money not lose. Eventually in a few years all u guys would be. Yeah it makes sense Microsoft decision and even if you guys have a small business you will never give anything for free because then there is no profit for your business. You won't thrive as a small or big business. Hopefully Microsoft will fix the groove the app to Zune standard and those user who are not happy will stop complaining. I use groove and as longest it does the job to play some music I am ok. But like I said again this is just my opinion and some other people will not see my point and argue but at the end everyone has their own opinion, and that's is the beauty of free speech and thinking.

I like Zune's logo very much..

I loved Zune but Groove Music is great.

Agreed

Also agree

Perhaps for streaming and buying stuff (after all, thats ALL any of the new services and products are about) but for a beautifully designed player for YOUR content even today nothing comes close.

Wow, the logo spells "ZUNE"!

Good, now people can move on. Just saying! :)

no I will still use ZUNE.    

bye the adorable player

the best one mp3 player!!!

groove music pass, when in india?

Will I still be able to download new music from the Zune application? I've been doing that every week for the past decade. Never touch Xbox music. Just today I downloaded the new Coldplay song in Zune.

You'll be able to download music with Groove Music and still be able to use Zune to listen and play it back. That's what I'm doing right now since Groove Music is a pile of horse shit for playing music. As long as its saved on your hard drive, and you're not streaming it, you'll be okay.

Do people "buy" music from Spotify and such like services?

I dont believe you can 'buy' from Spotify. That's not what they are about. There are numerous Services that only support streaming, and others that allow streaming and purchases. Still others allow non-purchases to be downloaded for off-line listening. Oddly iTunes never allowed streaming, only purchases. Still doesnt. Apple's streaming service was Beats and now Apple Music, replacing Beats. I don't think I am wrong saying Zune was the first subscription service that allowed streaming, purchase and download for off-line listening. How that lost to iTunes which required you to buy every song, and streaming only services when cell service was largely 2G, is beyond me. Actually the majority was downloaded at home over WiFi and transfered to a player. No-one did that like Zune. Seems a marketing failure. While many here indicate displeasure with the Groove player, the options really are pretty good. You can just stream over cell or WiFi. You can stream both from the service and from your own tunes in OneDrive. You can download DRM'd content to your phone for listening off-line and you can copy your own owned tracks to your device as well. I don't think the 'radio' function is as good as 'auto playlists' were but they aren't horrible, sampling from all those sources based on a seed artist/band. I've found some interesting new stuff just letting it do it's thing.   

It was certainly a failure in Marketing!  Sadly.  :(

Spotify is a music streaming service. You optionally pay a fixed monthly fee and can stream any song (in their library) that you like. You never 'own' any songs. I've had free premium for a couple of months in the past, but there's not much difference from the free subscription aside from a few ads every now and then. It's supposed to have a better sound quality, but I listen on headphones so the difference is negligible. I actually don't feel the need to buy any music, ever again, and no I don't pirate it either.

Your functionality will be missed and your name will remain weird.

Zune software was great, great logo and a great brand name. What a stupid move to leave it in the dust over groove music. Seriously.

R.I.P. ZUNE. If only MS would have kept the great UI and simply switched names, all would be right in the world. Instead, we got whatever the hell Xbox music was, and now a totally inferior Groove experience.

I love it too but like XP and Windows 7 if you keep things the same for too long they tend to get stale at least where technology is concerned. It's evolution baby

"evolution"

Time to move on. The future is on it's way.

ZUNE THE Best mp3 player!!!   I use daily and I will use it so!!!   MS groove it is by far the WORST music apllication I ever had the displeasure of using!!!              

I'll always love me some Zune. Oh Zune HD and Zune 80GB how I love thee. That touchpad on the 80GB is a classic.

I suspect Microsoft is waiting til the last minute to provide refunds. I still have more than half a year left. Where's ma money?!? I mean they did say by the 15th.

Zune is what brought me to Windows Phone, without it I probably would have gone with something else. It's been sad to see the long decline of MS music services. Zune had curated playlists, social sharing and music discovery years before anyone else, but they threw it all away and now Groove is just an also ran with less features than most of the competition.
I still use the desktop client because the new apps have been terrible in comparison.

No more 10 Free Songs.... #SadFace :(

I installed an 8" win10 tablet on my car. Setup Kodi to play movies, Zune to play music. Zune is still da best.

I use the Zune desktop software most everyday.

That's a complex logo for Zune.

Zune is also what brought me to Windows phone. I can remember going on a Microsoft forum and asking why can't we get a Zune phone? :')

Horrible service

Re: Paquitoradioboy,
Why do you say that?

Another great product from Microsoft that was killed off due to POOR marketing by Microsoft. This was the ulimate media player for the time, rated better than all the "i" devices available. Even with Windows Phone 7, the Zune client was great, syncing data, App display, and even with a simple mod, you could do a FULL CLONE of your phone. A sad day for music lovers...

Goodbye Zune. We have had good memories. :'(

Farwell my friend.

For any one who will miss the Zune. There is an app on Window's phone called ZBOX. It suppose to look and feel like the Zune UI.give it a try, and I'm sure the developer would appreciate it, since all the good apps get lost with the garbage.

Didn't know the Zune can "steam" content, hahaha.

My favorite player.