Owned by Google YouTube it’s finally cracking down on Discord’s Groovy music bot, which had managed to get and play music from the streaming platform on more than 16 million servers for years just under its nose.
From his Created almost five years ago, Groovy Bot had allowed users to converge on Discord to listen to parties, adding music from platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer, Apple Music, and Tidal. But, as Groovy founder Nik Ammerlaan admitted The Verge on Tuesday, “a bit like 98 percent of the songs played on Groovy were from YouTube, “a fact that apparently went unnoticed by the broadcast giant until recently.
“I’m not sure why they decided to send it [a cease and desist] now, “Ammerlaan told The Verge.” They probably just didn’t know it, to be honest. ”
Ammerlaan added that Groovy Bot has had a “huge weight” on his shoulders for the past five years and that he had long been awaiting legal action from YouTube’s parent company, Google. “It was just a matter of seeing when it would happen,” he said.
In a advertiser message at the close of the robot, Ammerlaan said Groovy would officially end its service on August 30 and that premium subscribers will receive a refund in the coming weeks.
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In a statement to The Verge, a YouTube spokesman confirmed that it had taken action against Groovy for breaches of the terms of service, which included “modifying the service and using it for commercial purposes.”
Although quitting and giving up Google has meant curtains for Groovy, similar Discord music bots like Octave, Hydra and Chip still seem to be safe, at least for now. Rhythmic—Currently running on more than 10 million servers, making it the most widely used Discord music bot by far — it also remains in operation, though it’s safe to assume that its days can be counted at this time. .
The lawsuit against Groovy takes place in the middle of a rain of stops of YouTube video download sites, which could be a potential indication that the platform and the RIAA are increasingly seeking litigation when it comes to third-party companies violating their terms of service.