Discord’s most popular music bot Rythm is shutting down

Rythm, the most popular bot on gaming app Discord, is shutting down after the service received a notice from YouTube.

The service will shut down on 15 September.

This is the second music bot to announce a shutdown on the chat app in recent weeks.

“We wanted to thank everyone for choosing Rythm and believing in us for all of these years,” Rythm wrote in a blog post.

“We know your experience on Discord won’t be the same without Rythm, but stay tuned — this isn’t the end.”

What is Rythm and what does it do on Discord?

Launched in 2016, the bot lets Discord users stream music from sources such as YouTube and Spotify on their channels.

As of 23 August, the service was active in over 20 million Discord servers.

Following the shutdown, subscribers of the bot’s Premium service will receive refunds for unused days.

In a Discord message sent to The Verge, the bot’s creator Yoav revealed they had been expecting the notice from YouTube.

“One way or another we knew this was due to happen eventually,” they said.

In its FAQ, the service said the bot will continue to be active online to operate its newsletter. It added it would return next year with a brand-new project.

The shutdown comes less than a month after YouTube sent a cease-and-desist letter to the owners of Groovy, another popular Discord music bot.

YouTube told The Verge the bot violated its Terms of Service, including making modifications to it for commercial purposes.

Groovy shut down on 30 August.

Like Rythm, the service also offered paid premium services to users and following the shutdown, refunded those who had paid for it beyond the end date.

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Featured image: Discord