YouTube has turned its attention to Rythm, a popular music bot on Discord, just weeks after the Google-owned company forced the Groovy music bot offline.
YouTube Wants Rythm to Shut Down
Google has sent a cease and desist letter to the owners of Rythm.
Rythm is a bot that allows Discord users to play music from YouTube videos without going to YouTube. It is currently used by 560 million Discord users, according to The Verge.
Google wants the Rythm bot closed down by Sept. 15. The company has since announced that it will shut down this week and follow Google's timeline.
Rythm music bot is installed on more than 20 million Discord servers and is currently being used by 560 million Discord users. This shutdown will affect millions of users, and it will affect Discord's core features.
Yoav, the creator of Rythm music bot, said that they knew that this would happen. This is why the company began working on a new bot in 2020. They were already expecting to receive a cease and desist letter after Groovy got one from YouTube weeks ago.
Yoav stated that the Rythm bot team is working on something to replace the music bot, and it will fill the "hole" in the music space.
The new project will have a connection to Discord, but the company is not ready to give any further details about it yet.
Rythm has been Yoav's focus for years, and it took him 16 servers, 4TB of RAM, and more than 1,000 CPU cores to power the music bot. This just shows how popular it has become since its launch.
The Rythm creator said that now that they received the cease and desist letter, he believes that the rest of the music bots will be getting one soon and that all of them will be forced to shut down as well.
The creator admits that it will be difficult to envision Discord without any music bots because they have become the key to the online experience. It has brought so much engagement and fun to the communities, according to 9to5Mac.
Earlier this year, Microsoft acquired Discord, and users expect more changes to happen in the future.
Looking for an Alternative
Music bots on Discord have been enabled by third-party apps for years. This allowed the platform to avoid legal action from huge companies like Google.
Both Groovy and Rythm shutting down will force millions of Discord users to search for alternatives. However, smaller developers could end up in the same position as Groovy and Rythm if they attempt to launch their service, according to PCGamer.
Despite the disappointing news, there seems to be a silver lining. Both Discord and YouTube are working together to form an alternative.
Discord is said to have been testing a new feature for the past few months. The said feature will allow the platform users to form a YouTube watch party.
This may not be a direct replacement for music bots, but if the feature launches and is a success, it can be an official way to watch YouTube on the streaming platform.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
