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iTunes Music store to be renamed.

S

sPAULj

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 12, 2004
36
0
A very good friend of mine told me tonight that Apple is looking into changing the name of it's "music store" to a "media store".

He works at Apple, and that's pretty much all he told me since he's very secretive about everything that happens at work. He told me this when I asked him why it's called a "music store" in the first place. It's really not a big deal, just a name change really, but I think it does show how Apple is opening itself up to new video and what it has to offer.
 
miloblithe said:
That would make sense. Unfortunately, they can't also change "iTunes", which doesn't really cover video.
Click to expand...

You know what? I should have asked him about that! I feel like an idiot now.

I guess they could rename it "iMedia" or something, but that would probably kill all of the marketing behind "iPod+iTunes". That's truly a problem.

Hmm...Then again, they had no problem with killing the iPod mini outright so I suppose anything is possible.
 
Media sounds like a very Windows word to me. It doesn't have that nice inviting Apple-ring to it.
 
It's going to be called the iVingleMobileMeBoombox Store®. You read it here first!
 
I agree, iTunes and iTunes Music Store no longer apply. If the only videos being sold were music videos, then OK. But now that they're selling shows and shorts, it doesn't fit.

For the iTunes Music Store?

iTunes Media Store.

and for iTunes? hm....what about...

iLike?
iEnjoy?
iStuff?

This is going to be a tricky one for them Apple folks.
 
pknz said:
Media sounds like a very Windows word to me. It doesn't have that nice inviting Apple-ring to it.
Click to expand...

True, but I can't possibly think of what else they will name it. "iPlayer" is the only thing I can think of that's generic enough to fit the entertainment category, and that has no Apple qualities.
 
Although "tunes" does imply music, it's kinda slang. I think Apple can abuse it's monopoly power to extend the slang to include all kinds of media. ;)
 
itunes will remain. Maybe the iTunes music store will just become the iTunes Store... Think of other companies that have expanded - tower records is still tower records even though they sell CDs now (and videos). I'm sure there's a better example than that too. Maybe the store could just become iStore.
 
As far as the non-US stores are concerned they should probably put some other media up there first, before calling it a media store.
 
miloblithe said:
That would make sense. Unfortunately, they can't also change "iTunes", which doesn't really cover video.
Click to expand...

Sure they can! Some possibilities:

1. Have both an iTunes Media Store and a Vingle Media Store
2. Call it iPod Media Store.
3. Call it Apple iMedia Store

I think that Apple will probably choose option 2 or 3, and start branding the media as iTunes, Vingle and Podcast as appropriate. They could easily rebrand the iTunes app as "iMedia, the iTunes and Vingle media player".
 
mdavey said:
1. Have both an iTunes Media Store and a Vingle Media Store
2. Call it iPod Media Store.
3. Call it Apple iMedia Store
Click to expand...

iTunes and iPod are too powerful as marketing names to give up, so they wouldn't do something like Apple media store (which also has legal problems with Apple records) or Mac media store. They don't want to just call it iPod media store because they want to sell media for computers and home entertainment centers, too.

Two different stores such as iTunes and Vingle is too confusing.

So it will be the iTunes media store.
 
wordmunger said:
iTunes and iPod are too powerful as marketing names to give up, so they wouldn't do something like Apple media store (which also has legal problems with Apple records)
Click to expand...

My point was that they wouldn't give it up, just emphasise that it is the content that are iTunes (or Vingles) rather than the store name. Regarding Apple iMedia Store, officially it would be called "The iMedia Store", just that everyone would call it "The Apple iMedia Store" or "Apple's iMedia Store". This is just like how people call it "Mac OS Ten" even though Sun owns the trademark "OS 10" and Apple spells it "Mac OS X".

They don't want to just call it iPod media store because they want to sell media for computers and home entertainment centers, too.
Click to expand...

How does the brand name prevent sales for these platforms, exactly ;) iMedia Store does seem more likely than iPod Media Store, though (I agree).

Two different stores such as iTunes and Vingle is too confusing.
Click to expand...

I guess I'd argue that a single monolithic store with music, music videos, TV shows and movies all mixed up together is more confusing. Especially when the store calls itself "iTunes Music Store". Most people associate iTunes with music, not TV and movies.
 
Yeah, its about time they separated the music and video sections properly. Maybe have two tabs in the source pane in iTunes, one for music store, one for video store.

As for names? Apple Media Store. Comprised of the iTunes music store and the iVideo? store. I think iVideo's name is already taken though
 
Am I the only one that thinks Vingle is a really stupid word? Besides sounding dumb, it is not good at conveying anything about what it means. Most people are either going to have to think for a while or have it explained to them before they have any idea that it is a video.

I think the iTunes Store, iTunes Media Store or even Apple Media Store would be OK names.
 
mdavey said:
Sure they can! Some possibilities:

1. Have both an iTunes Media Store and a Vingle Media Store
2. Call it iPod Media Store.
3. Call it Apple iMedia Store

I think that Apple will probably choose option 2 or 3, and start branding the media as iTunes, Vingle and Podcast as appropriate. They could easily rebrand the iTunes app as "iMedia, the iTunes and Vingle media player".
Click to expand...

It'll never be 2 or 3. iMedia is just lame, apple needs to get away from the "i" prefix, and 2 is just inviting lawsuits over monopolistic practices.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they did an iTunes.app and a television.app or something like that, each with their own store.
 
This is fake, and I'll give you two reasons...

sPAULj said:
1. A very good friend of mine...

2. He works at Apple....
Click to expand...

Now, Apple may actually do this, but your "friend" who works at Apple never told you this. And, if you are dumb enough to print this, Apple will file a lawsuit against you to find out who your friend is...just like they did to ThinkSecret.
 
mac-er said:
Now, Apple may actually do this, but your "friend" who works at Apple never told you this. And, if you are dumb enough to print this, Apple will file a lawsuit against you to find out who your friend is...just like they did to ThinkSecret.
Click to expand...

I do believe that apple might be leaking out small bits of info like this to see how the consumer market responds without any serious loss if apple doesn't choose the name. Soon we might see someone post new MacBooks (iBooks) will feature a 802.11n feature that they will call UberAirPort (i don't really like that btw). Apple will monitor the post, and see what the consumer has to say about it. They also might get some good naming suggestions.

Also, his friend might be Steve:p
 
How about leaving the Music Store as is and adding a Video Store? The only disadvantage I see is that the traffic in the Music Store won't be exposed to the latest and greatest videos. Otherwise, the "Media Store" idea sounds good, but iTunes should be left as is for branding.
 
hyperpasta said:
How about leaving the Music Store as is and adding a Video Store?
Click to expand...

I think this is likely. If they used tabs kinda like the way you navigate between the Apple product pages and Apple store pages, they could make the different spaces feel more like different 'depatments' than different 'stores'.
 
wordmunger said:
iTunes and iPod are too powerful as marketing names to give up, so they wouldn't do something like Apple media store (which also has legal pro
Click to expand...


Just like "PowerBook" and "iPod mini." Apple would never give those names up either.

When are you kids going to learn that MBA 101 doesn't apply to Apple. Apple (Jobs) makes its own rules up.

Not saying the iTunes Store is gone, just that I wouldn't be shocked if Apple renamed both the store and the software to better position itself for video.
 
mduser63 said:
Am I the only one that thinks Vingle is a really stupid word? Besides sounding dumb, it is not good at conveying anything about what it means. Most people are either going to have to think for a while or have it explained to them before they have any idea that it is a video.
Click to expand...


No, you are not alone. But I'll be the first brave soul to admit I though the word "iPod" was stupid and confusing too back in 2001. Here we are some 5 years later and "iPod" is now synonomous with MP3 player...and maybe even portable video player too. See how little I know.
 
sPAULj said:
You know what? I should have asked him about that! I feel like an idiot now.

I guess they could rename it "iMedia" or something, but that would probably kill all of the marketing behind "iPod+iTunes". That's truly a problem.

Hmm...Then again, they had no problem with killing the iPod mini outright so I suppose anything is possible.
Click to expand...
I guess they could intregrate it into Quicktime and make it into an all singing media player. I doubt that though.

Also, did they actually say that part of the name will change, or did they say it will change to the iTunes Media Store? If the latter, you know what the app will be called anyway, not that it's really in much doubt.
 
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