Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has finally confirmed that it acquired Groove Music app made by a startup firm known as Zikera.
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The app is no longer available in the Apple App Store, and the reason for the acquisition is possibly because it has the same name as Microsoft’s Xbox Music streaming service.
While Microsoft didn’t disclose much, Zikera, on the other hand, has revealed some details about this transaction. However, the post that made the announcement indicated that the Groove player that was available before Google took over the app is no longer downloadable.
Microsoft has yet to formally announce its acquisition of Groove. Microsoft is working towards increasing the market share of Windows Phone devices, and this move will enable the company to improve the input methods on Windows Phone devices. Groove app is developed by a Montreal-based startup called Zikera. That Groove evolved into what today is SharePoint Workspace and/or OneDrive for Business. We’d love to see this acqusition do for Groove Music what the Sunrise acquisition has done for Outlook on iOS and Android (and perhaps, on Windows 10 eventually as well). The renewed music service was named Groove, a catchy title that adds to the vibration it gets across.
Groove offers an interesting experience for audiophiles as well as casual listeners; particularly due to its extensive music collection and advanced algorithms. So we can also call it a kind of “Machine Learning”. These existing users can use the application, but no update will be provided.
Before this application was removed after the deal, it has been downloaded by more than 1.5 million people from the Apple App Store.
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Last week, it also acquired the SwiftKey keyboard app and integrated its employees into the Microsoft staff. It is even possible that it is a threat of litigation that has led the Redmond giant to buy the application. They acquired the technology and brand (including the Groove app’s domain).
