If there was ever a time to start mass-importing data from Google Play’s music store, this is it. I don’t know that there was ever much (or any) exclusive content like there was with CD Baby, but best to not take that chance.
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Sorry to double post, but I just noticed that Google Play stores cover art in a format the CAA doesn’t support (WebP). Is there a good way to convert these files into some other format?
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There is a good article on how to do the conversion either using your browser or locally after downloading the files.
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Does Google Play Music offer additional metadata via API? I haven’t found the data offered on its website to be very useful relative to my usual sources.
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You don’t need to convert the WebP images. The image URLs can contain parameters to control that.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7UGu24FYBRTqkWlvJDy6PO-Y6pvROAt2Wk9SVH72X_S6drQukE_2AZlpP_rO6PO0-bLmlNqr=w200-h300-rw
w200-h300 = resolution.
-rw = WebP
Remove -rw and you’ll get a jpg. Changing w200-h300 to w0-h0 gives the original resolution.
Simply leaving out both parameters will always return a 512×512px jpg it seems.
It’s simplest to just replace all parameters by d to get the original file:
https://developers.google.com/photos/library/guides/access-media-items#image-base-urls
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7UGu24FYBRTqkWlvJDy6PO-Y6pvROAt2Wk9SVH72X_S6drQukE_2AZlpP_rO6PO0-bLmlNqr=d
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Let’s assume there was no exclusive content and we can go on doing what we were doing. 
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It looks like they’re moving to YouTube Music. There’s a good chance it has all of the music that Google Play does, if anyone wants to check. Both sites were created by the same teams according to the e-mail they sent to customers.
Here’s the e-mail I received today, in case it contains anything useful.
Google Play Music is going away soon
YouTube Music is replacing Google Play Music as your new destination for music listening and discovery. Between October and the end of this year, access to Google Play Music will be removed permanently. We know that you’ve spent time building your Google Play Music library, so we’ve made it easy to transfer your music library to YouTube Music with just one click, including playlists, uploads, and recommendations.
If you haven’t tried YouTube Music yet, you’ll notice that it looks a bit different from Google Play Music, but know that it was built by the same team with the same passion. It also offers more than 65 million official songs, albums, and playlists, as well as many features you love and expect from Google Play Music.
Download the YouTube Music app to transfer
Or transfer using your browser
With all that said, here are a few more things you should know:
Google Play Music library and data
In addition to transferring your library to YouTube Music, you have the option to download any music that you’ve purchased or uploaded to Google Play Music, as well as a list of the tracks, playlists, and radio stations in your library. We’ll notify you before you’ll lose access to your Google Play Music library and data. You can also delete your Google Play Music data.
Music Manager and uploads
Uploading and downloading music with Music Manager will be discontinued starting in 30 days. But don’t worry – you can always upload your personal music collection to YouTube Music or download your existing tracks via Google Takeout.
Music store on Google Play
Starting in 30 days, the Music store on Google Play will go away. It won’t be possible to purchase music on Google Play anymore, and all pre-orders will be canceled. Once you transfer, your purchases will move with you to YouTube Music.
A new home for podcasts
With Google Play Music going away, you won’t be able to listen to podcasts there anymore. You can transfer your subscriptions and episode progress to Google Podcasts, our dedicated podcast player available for free on Android, iOS, and the web. With Google Podcasts, you can sync playback across devices and discover new podcasts you’ll love. Transfer to Google Podcasts.
Radio and background play
Background play is only available to paid users of YouTube Music. However, the free version of the music app allows background play for your uploaded or purchased songs and streaming on smart devices with Google Assistant.
Thanks for being a loyal listener. We hope you’ll enjoy the YouTube Music experience. If you have questions, we’re here for you. Check out our support resources.
Happy listening,
The Google Play Music and YouTube Music teams
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From what I’ve read, that’s not the case. YouTube Music is infamous for mixing audio content with music videos; i.e. in a single “album” playlist, certain tracks will be replaced with music videos for those songs, whose audio content may not match the studio recording.
Further reading, with other concerns:
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LOL.
Long live to the CD! 
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The day is finally upon us…
https://play.google.com/store/apps/theme/promotion_gpm_shutdown_ctp
I guess they finally took it down today. Ticket time!
Interestingly, it’s still possible to view artist overviews but it’s not possible to access release pages, so for the time being it’s still theoretically possible to copy and paste the links into MB.
EDIT: Now even that’s not available. There must have been some cache error I was taking advantage of. Welp, time to cut my losses and walk away…
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Play Music is still accessible for some users. I, for one, can still stream
and access all pages just fine. The email I got (Fri, 14 Aug 2020 00:06:06 -0700) was also phrased differently:
Google Play Music is going away soon
Between October and the end of this year, access to Google Play Music will be removed permanently. We thank you again for transferring your Google Play Music library, and since we want you to have the best experience with YouTube Music, here are a few more things and upcoming changes you should know.
Updates to your music transfer
Did you make any changes to your Google Play Music library after you transferred? If so, make sure to transfer again to update your library in YouTube Music. Update your music library.
Google Play Music library and data
In addition to transferring your library to YouTube Music, you have the option to download any music that you’ve purchased or uploaded to Google Play Music, as well as a list of the tracks, playlists, and radio stations in your library. We’ll notify you before you’ll lose access to your Google Play Music library and data. You can also delete your Google Play Music data.
Music Manager and uploads
Uploading and downloading music with Music Manager will be discontinued starting in 30 days. But don’t worry – you can always upload your personal music collection to YouTube Music or download your existing tracks via Google Takeout.
Music store on Google Play
Starting in 30 days, the Music store on Google Play will go away. It won’t be possible to purchase music on Google Play anymore, and all pre-orders will be canceled. Once you transfer, your purchases will move with you to YouTube Music.
Thanks again for being a loyal YouTube Premium member. If you have questions, we’re here for you. Check out our support resources.
Happy listening,
The YouTube Music and Google Play Music teams
Didn’t try but it seems I can also still purchase music.
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The Ars Technica article I posted in the first post mentioned the rollout taking place in different countries/territories at different times, starting with South Africa and New Zealand in September. Perhaps you’re in one of the territories where it hasn’t been disabled yet?
FTR I never used Google Play myself, I only copied links to it (and occasional releases I couldn’t find anywhere else) into MB.
So it looks like it’s gone in all territories now: