Microsoft rebrands Xbox Music as Groove
Microsoft has rebranded its music service Xbox Music as Groove (or Groove Music), in an effort to clear up the confusions about the service’s availability on the company’s different platforms.
Xbox Music, according to Microsoft, was creating a confusion amongst Windows users, leading them to not use the app itself. According to the company, Xbox Music was being ignored by users who did not have an Xbox, and this makes some sense at the very least. The new name, Groove (or Groove Music) does away with the Xbox brand, but continues the Xbox Music style monthly and yearly music passes.
Microsoft had started removing trails of “Xbox” from its Music app for Windows 8.1 users. In updates, the app was renamed to simply Music, but there were a few remnants of the old Xbox Music branding within the app itself. With Windows 10, users will now come across the Groove Music app, with a new record player app icon.
The Groove Music Pass subscription service will allow you to access a 40 million track library at a price of $9.99 per month or $99 per year. Microsoft has not announced prices for other regions, and we don’t know about the availability details either, but presumably the prices and availability will be the same as that of Xbox Music.
