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Google is shutting down its Artist Hub as it transitions to YouTube Music

Google is shutting down its Artist Hub as it transitions to YouTube Music

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It let artists upload to Google Play and Google Play Music

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Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Google is shutting down the Google Play Artist Hub at the end of the month, reports 9to5Google. First launched in 2012, the hub allowed smaller indie artists to upload and sell their music through the Google Play store and Google Play Music service. The hub is no longer accepting new signups, and will not let existing members upload or edit their music as of April 30th.

The demise of the Artist Hub comes as Google shuffles its main music offering. In its email to artists announcing the shutdown, Google said “With the launch of YouTube Music last year, we eventually plan to replace Google Play Music with YouTube Music.” It added, “we encourage you to become a YouTube Artist if you aren’t already,” and recommended a list of YouTube partners to sell music through the service. Last year the company said that YouTube Music will eventually get all of Google Play Music’s key features.

After artists cease being able to upload or edit their music on April 30th, it will be one more month until they receive their final reports and payments from the service on May 31st. These reports will be deleted entirely on July 31st.