It was thought that the other well-known Discord bots that use the platform would soon follow, when news broke two weeks ago that Google-owned YouTube had taken the Groovy bot offline. Today, it appears that Rythm's number has surfaced: according to reports, YouTube sent the bot a cease and desist letter asking it to be offline within seven days.
Discord's music bots, which have managed to avoid lawsuits for years, have long provided users of the platform with a way to foster community by creating shared playlists. Rythm is by far the most used Discord music bot, with around 560 million Discord users, of which around 30 million are active each month. Before the shutdown, Rhythm users could feed the bot with YouTube links, which made it possible to create a shared playlist that everyone could enjoy in a given voice channel. In a message posted on its website, the company said it planned to comply with the legal notice by shutting down its service on September 15.
“Even if our current service stops, we’re not going anywhere,” Rythm wrote in the newsletter. “We've spent the last year working on something brand new in the music space that will revolutionize the way we all listen to music. We can’t say much yet, but keep Rythm on your servers and subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates as we release them over the coming months.”
The bot's operators have reportedly been preparing for months for a sudden and forced shutdown, particularly after noticing that YouTube's legal departments and the RIAA had unexpectedly shown a lot of interest in third-party companies that violate the terms platform service. The bot reportedly pulls and streams music from YouTube to provide background listening to Discord users.
In addition to taking legal action against the popular Groovy bot, YouTube had forced the shutdown of a number of popular video download sites over the last year, including YouTube-DL. This sudden trend in litigation is a strong indication that the platform – and the RIAA – are increasingly interested in cracking down on third-party sites that infringe on YouTube's copyrighted content.
“I think now that we have received the letter, all the music bots will also receive them in the coming weeks and I firmly believe that they will all shut down,” Yoav told The Verge. “As an early adopter of Discord, it's hard to imagine Discord without music bots, they have become key to the experience and bring so much fun and engagement to a community. It’s a sad end of an era here for everyone on the platform.”
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FAQs
Q. Why is YouTube removing Discord bots?
It became massively popular, with estimates of over 250 million users at its peak. However, Google-owned Youtube has sent a cease and desist letter to Groovy's owners because the bot violates Youtube's terms of service, particularly regarding service modifications and use at commercial purpose.
Q. Why are Discord music bots closed?
Discord music bot Groovy ended its service on August 30 due to copyright issues with YouTube.
Q. Why does the Rythm bot stop?
YouTube is forcing Rhythm, Discord's most popular music bot, to go offline. The Rythm bot will shut down on September 15, after Google sends a legal cease and desist letter.
Q. Is there a replacement for the Rhythm bot?
Another great music bot on Discord is 24/7, a music player that you can use as an alternative to Groovy and Rythm. Like other music bots, 24/7 allows its users to play songs from YouTube and other platforms, or even listen to the radio.