In one of the sadder concessions of defeat Microsoft have made, they have announced that the free, ad supported Xbox Music streaming service will cease to operate on December 1, effectively pulling the service out of the arena where it faced off against the behemoth Spotify, and smaller minnows like Sony’s Music Unlimited and Apple’s iTunes Radio. It’s sad because Xbox Music was actually pretty good.
From then on, only the subscription based option, called Music Pass and available for $10 per month, will be available. Music Pass lets you stream on any Microsoft device, and offline listening on PCs, tablets and phones.
In addition, any music that you purchase will be available on PCs, tablets, and phones, and any playlist created without a subscription will still be viewable, though you will need to subscribe to actually play the songs.
If you own an Xbox One or an Xbox 360 and want to continue using Xbox Music to its fullest, subscribing might be a good idea.