KEY POINTS
- Rythm will shut down on Wednesday
- The bot gained over 30 million users over five years of service
- Rythm's creators are currently working on a different project that could replace the bot after the takedown
Shortly after taking down Discord’s popular Groovy bot, Google has set its sights on another music bot in an attempt to take down third parties that have apparently breached their terms of service.
The popular Discord music bot Rythm will shut down for good on Wednesday to comply with Google-owned YouTube’s demands, PC Gamer reported.
Rythm’s Twitter account posted an official notice of the bot’s shutdown, marking the end of its five years of service to many gamers around the globe.
Previously, Google took down Groovy for its alleged TOS violation, saying that the bot’s owners were “modifying [YouTube] for and using it for commercial purposes.” Discord users felt that this was only the beginning and that other big Discord music bots would meet the same fate sooner or later.
Rythm currently has over 30 million active users and can be found in nearly 20 million unique Discord servers. Like other Discord music bots, Rythm lets users play music in the background via the chat app’s voice channels. These bots are controlled via chat commands and usually source their media from YouTube directly.
Music bots circumvent the need for other music apps to play in the background. They also give groups quick and easy access to their favorite songs while playing games or hanging out in Discord’s voice chat. Bots have enhanced communal gatherings in Discord but not without raising concerns with YouTube itself.
“One way or another we knew this was due to happen eventually” Rythm creator Yoav told The Verge in an interview.
However, Yoav also mentioned that they have been preparing for this moment since last year. They have been working on another project that appears to be related to Discord, potentially a more legal Rythm alternative, but their team isn’t quite ready to disclose anything as of yet.
Rythm and Groovy are only two of the many music bots available on Discord, but users are starting to suspect that Google might go after all of them, or at least the ones that manage to garner enough attention. Discord users will have to start looking for alternative bots to add to their servers in the meantime as the Rythm team continues to work on their new project.
YouTube's music streaming service says it is growing quickly as it tries to catch up with rivals like Spotify Photo: AFP / Eric PIERMONT
