Today we have gone from speculation to confirmation about the name change for Xbox Music. Long rumored to be a consideration, Xbox Music is now just Groove (not Groove Music, as originally reported).
The word 'groove' has many meanings, but one of the most frequent ones is about music.
From Wikipedia):
"Groove is the sense of propulsive rhythmic "feel" or sense of "swing" created by the interaction of the music played by a band's rhythm section (drums, electric bass or double bass, guitar, and keyboards). Ubiquitous in popular music, groove is a consideration in genres such as salsa, funk, rock, fusion, and soul."
The name seems very apropos for the service. As explained earlier, Microsoft moved away from Xbox Music due to the failure of Xbox to catch on as a catchall for "Entertainment" instead of just gaming. That and the confusion amongst some novices who thought the Xbox is Xbox Music implied they needed a Xbox 360 or Xbox One console to partake.
New Name Is A Weird Name (Or Is It?)
Interestingly, Microsoft faces a few renaming issues with their new products. Whether it was Hotmail to Outlook.com or Live Mesh to SkyDrive (to OneDrive) or Internet Explore to Microsoft Edge, new names sound weird especially when they are for "old" products.
With Groove, your brain is going to have to rewire its pathways for semantic and phonological associations. This phenomenon is very different from a new service with a new designation, which gets more leeway in naming rights. That is because that thing is unfamiliar, and its odd name reflects that feeling.
Over time, we all adjust. Whether it is an iPod, an Instagram, a Facebook, or a Roku, names grow on us the longer we use them.
An extreme example of this word adjustment is semantic satiation, where you repeat a word over and over until the word temporarily loses all meaning. A lot of this effect has to do with neural pathways and frequency of usage.
My point? Before you take this poll reconsider your gut reaction to how you will feel in six months. From my experience, most of you will shift from disapproval to fondness over time. Like all things in life, you are just going to get used to it, like it or not!
Besides, it is not like Deezer, Spotify, Slacker, Tidal, or Google Play Music are all home run names either! The difference is you are just used to them by now, so they do not sound "bad". Some of you even like Zune, by far one of the oddest names to date.
The Poll
You know the drill. Head to m.windowscentral.com if you are using our app or on a mobile. Otherwise, just take the survey on what you think of the new name! Repeat votes are blocked by cookie and IP to prevent inaccurate results.
We'll share the results in a few days!
