LukasTaves
Member
http://www.neowin.net/news/another-one-of-nadellas-tough-choices-may-involve-xbox-music
Looks like it's just (another) rebranding.
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Windows Phone 8.1 |OT| Update 1
- Thread starter brotkasten
- Start date
http://www.neowin.net/news/another-one-of-nadellas-tough-choices-may-involve-xbox-music
Looks like it's just (another) rebranding.
NeOak
Member
Should be better than the one developed by the French interns
Sky Interloper
Member
I don't believe they would be stupid enough to sell their Music business. It would weaken the Windows ecosystem against Apple and Google.
brotkasten
Member
Groove Music already exists.
http://www.groovemusicapp.com/
But they never really were into the music business anymore, after killing Zune. They didn't work on the service, didn't improve it, didn't evolve it. It's been something that was just there and totally neglected. It makes sense to get rid of it and let others do the work, while providing a platform for them.
It literally can not be worse than Xbox Music.
e: Getting rid of the service doesn't mean they're getting rid of the apps, of course.
Lol.
Not a bad deal at all this Spotify.
I requested a refund via Xbox support. Let's see how this goes.
brotkasten
Member
The difference is that you don't get to own the music and you obviously can't play the music outside of the Spotify player. It's all yours, online and offline, as long as you keep paying the bills. They do have student discounts as well, iirc.
e: What's also really awesome is Spotify Connect and the Spotify integration with the Playstation 4.
Connect lets you control your other devices with Spotify. Say, have the notebook or tablet connected to your sound system and you can use your phone as a remote.
On PS4 you can use Spotify as an app, pick all the music and playlists you want and let it run in the background while playing whatever game you want. It also works with Connect, which means you can even control the music from your phone, without having to leave the game.
I mostly listen to game osts (don't judge me) so depending on their collection and WP app, I might give it a try.
I listen to lots of game OST's as well, major ones usually get added on the day of release (and Spotify has learnt that I like them, so I get notified when they are). WP app, is ok, doesn't have parity with the iPhone or Android app (no Device sync, no "play to other device" for remote controlling the PS4 app for instance, and no local file support).
I like it, the app has gotten better with time, and I'm hoping for parity come Windows 10 mobile.
Edit: for the game OST's, you can always google "game name OST Spotify" and if there's a link to a playlist, you know it's available later when you sub, could be a good way of seeing if the OST's you're looking for are available.
Not with the WP app, unfortunately.
LukasTaves
Member
Oh, I see. Well then... It's probably sold.Groove Music already exists.
http://www.groovemusicapp.com/
But they never really were into the music business anymore, after killing Zune. They didn't work on the service, didn't improve it, didn't evolve it. It's been something that was just there and totally neglected. It makes sense to get rid of it and let others do the work, while providing a platform for them.
It literally can not be worse than Xbox Music.
e: Getting rid of the service doesn't mean they're getting rid of the apps, of course.
The Win10 Mobile Music app is quite nice actually.
I don't really care if they sell this thing, as long as whoever they sold it to does it smoothly and my playlists and OneDrive collection stuff transfers. And if the XBone app stays working because I would have video playlists playing during parties and that was quite nice. Especially since it automatically found music in my collection with associated music videos. And they don't have Spotify on Bone.
Anyone know if this applies to 640Xl as well?
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Yes. It kinda surprised me when I noticed it. Clock and notifications will show up fine, but forget about weather forecasts and the like.
Thanks. interesting... memory related or an oversight... Or purposely feature limited to make higher positioned phones more compelling, I wonder?
Introducing Groove Music
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07/06/updates-to-entertainment-in-windows-10/
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07/06/updates-to-entertainment-in-windows-10/
brotkasten
Member
Well, that's assuring. Explains the bad icon.
e: I really wish I could make a good comment on the fourth rebrand of their music stuff, but it's really too much.
At least it's not HotMusic or OneMusic or Windows Music.... and Xbox Music was a shitty name to begin with. Typical Microsoft branding.
Spoiler alert: won't do well or magically be great no matter what you call it.
People just don't gravitate towards Microsoft services the way they do to Apples' or Googles'. If Microsoft wants to be a player in the streaming wars, just follow the usual Microsoft playbook and acquire Spotify. Ideally for a high price at a time when it's already on its way out.
I thought Xbox music was bad, but wow.
They did that already, lol. It was called Rhapsody.
brotkasten
Member
In their defense, who gives a shit about Google Music in this case? The few Google/Android nerds in the Android thread are the only people I "know" who use it. I'd say as a brand it's as successful as Xbox Music.
e: Oh my god, the even fucked up the announcement of their new brand! Apparently it's not Groove Music, but just Groove instead. Marketing material is inconsistent and says both. Jesus Christ.
brotkasten
Member
To be fair to them, it would've made perfect sense and there is a music app or service called Groove already. So, eh.
The reasoning for dropping the Xbox Music brand is hilarious, by the way. Like you couldn't have seen it from a mile away already, when they announced it in 2012(?).
Remember when Xbox was going to be Microsoft entertainment brand?
Me neither.
Astral/H3X
Member
To be fair to them, it would've made perfect sense and there is a music app or service called Groove already. So, eh.
The reasoning for dropping the Xbox Music brand is hilarious, by the way. Like you couldn't have seen it from a mile away already, when they announced it in 2012(?).
Remember when Xbox was going to be Microsoft entertainment brand?
Me neither.
To be fair, I think in 2012 Xbox had a much more positive public perception than Windows did.
brotkasten
Member
If you live in the United States, maybe. No one cares about the Xbox brand outside the US and UK and that was true even back in 2012. And even then, Xbox is gaming. Nothing else.
Back in 2012, the brand was already over a decade old and absolutely associated with gaming.
That's amazing haha.If you live in the United States, maybe. No one cares about the Xbox brand outside the US and UK and that was true even back in 2012. And even then, Xbox is gaming. Nothing else.
Back in 2012, the brand was already over a decade old and absolutely associated with gaming.
juliushandle
Member
Rebranding is indeed embarrassing. "Xbox = entertainment" they should stick with that.
brotkasten
Member
But that's the thing. Xbox is not entertainment, nor is it their entertainment brand anymore. It's gaming. It has been gaming since 2001 and they failed to change that. They tried and it didn't work out at all. In fact, the TV dream is dead. They don't have an entertainment brand that combines all things and I'm not sure if they need one. Rebranding it to Xbox Music was a mistake from the beginning.
lastflowers
Banned
No normal person hears Xbox and thinks entertainment.
Design and hardware was brilliant, the name wasn't great. And ultimately, associated with failure.
To rename it was the right decision, to call it Xbox made no sense.
Junior Mint
Member
Horrific branding and marketing must be part of Microsoft's DNA. I give it 4 years before it rebrands again because someone finally realizes Groove is a stupid ass name.
I don't think MS will have a Music service in 4 years.
In a not particularly interesting story, I was creating a reporting site for some data related to our team's software. Internal network sites are defaulted to compatibility mode to an older IE by the admins and I was needing to use HTML5. The way to force it to use the latest IE is to put a meta tag with some attribute name I cannot recall, but the value was "IE=edge". This meta tag documentation was done years ago. I chuckled.
brotkasten
Member
(this was released two months before the iPhone was unveiled)
I firmly believe that the first gen hardware was what doomed the Zune brand. It was this fat, heavy, clunky and just not great looking device (reskinned Toshiba Gigabeat, done in less than 18 months, I believe). Not to mention that the first software was a skinned WMP and really not good at all. Plus, it didn't work with Microsoft's DRM stuff that was still relevant at the time it was released (PlaysForSure). Music you bought from MSN Music wasn't compatible, you had to buy music from the Zune store with Microsoft Points instead. It was US-only, as everything Microsoft is. Also, it was very, very brown. It just was a complete failure.
e: Not to mention, that you shared songs by squirting it to other players. What the fuck.
They did completely turn it around with the 2.0 relaunch (imo), but the damage was already done. Not to mention that everything was already too late. iTunes/iPod competitor in 2006, when the market was already lost. iPod touch competitor in 2009, when dedicated music players were on their way out.
But man, it was great. Absolutely great.
Installed out over the weekend and it's still too rough to be used on a daily driver IMO. Copy and paste never seemed to work, store would crash constantly, Cortana is a PoS compared to the 8.1 version, and just so many nagging issues. I couldn't log into my bank online and that was one of the biggest deal breakers.
I did like a lot of what I saw though. It's just not in a solid enough state for me to use daily, especially when I rely on my phone at work.
José Mourinho
cocknose
Groove is no worse a name than Spotify. It's just that Spotify is successful and synonymous with music streaming so you don't think twice about the crappy name.
Tried to help my mom and one of her friends (both in their 50s) out with their Windows Phones.
Whooo boy, I really never realized how many user interaction concepts I took for granted/self-evident.
First smartphone for my mom, I think so far her favorite part is that she can have weather tiles for 4 different cities
(640 seems quite cool)
Whooo boy, I really never realized how many user interaction concepts I took for granted/self-evident.
First smartphone for my mom, I think so far her favorite part is that she can have weather tiles for 4 different cities
(640 seems quite cool)
They do when the service is good, Azure, office 365 and OneDrive as examples.
However, they suck at marketing and branding. OneDrive used to be called skydrive and I'm sure something before that. Office 365 had like 3 names before office 365. The products I work with in System Center have been renamed or rebranded. They can't seem to make up their mind and stick with something.
Steelyuhas
Member
Well, SkyDrive was a forced change, legally.
I wasn't aware they had changed 365 at all...
Actually I got that wrong, I was thinking Business Productivity Online Suite was the same thing, but its was the predecessor and a different product.
A few quick impressions of the 640:
The onscreen buttons, just seem "off", like they're not quite right, doesn't fit well or something.
I already miss the screen on the 1020. 640's colors just "pop" too much, liked the more muted colors of the 1020, viewing angle is also understandably much worse. Also miss my glance background.
No dedicated camera button is a bummer.
So far it beats the 1020 in performance. No stuttering at all, and very responsive screen. Will see how it fares in a few weeks when I've used it more, maybe it'll start doing minor stuttering after more use.
The onscreen buttons, just seem "off", like they're not quite right, doesn't fit well or something.
I already miss the screen on the 1020. 640's colors just "pop" too much, liked the more muted colors of the 1020, viewing angle is also understandably much worse. Also miss my glance background.
No dedicated camera button is a bummer.
So far it beats the 1020 in performance. No stuttering at all, and very responsive screen. Will see how it fares in a few weeks when I've used it more, maybe it'll start doing minor stuttering after more use.
(this was released two months before the iPhone was unveiled)
I firmly believe that the first gen hardware was what doomed the Zune brand. It was this fat, heavy, clunky and just not great looking device (reskinned Toshiba Gigabeat, done in less than 18 months, I believe). Not to mention that the first software was a skinned WMP and really not good at all. Plus, it didn't work with Microsoft's DRM stuff that was still relevant at the time it was released (PlaysForSure). Music you bought from MSN Music wasn't compatible, you had to buy music from the Zune store with Microsoft Points instead. It was US-only, as everything Microsoft is. Also, it was very, very brown. It just was a complete failure.
e: Not to mention, that you shared songs by squirting it to other players. What the fuck.
They did completely turn it around with the 2.0 relaunch (imo), but the damage was already done. Not to mention that everything was already too late. iTunes/iPod competitor in 2006, when the market was already lost. iPod touch competitor in 2009, when dedicated music players were on their way out.
But man, it was great. Absolutely great.
The original Zune 80 was a behemoth, but I thought it was very good.
When I was talking about brilliant hardware, I was talking about the Zune HD, though.
It's still the prettiest piece of hardware I ever owned. It's held up very well.
Regarding how they fucked up Zune from succeeding, you won't find many that disagree.
But both the software and hardware were brilliant imo.