Microsoft is rebranding its current Xbox Music service to Groove, and will start rolling it out with Windows 10 PCs as of July 29.
Those currently subscribing to Xbox Music Pass don't need to do anything; they'll automatically get Groove Music Pass. The renamed Microsoft Groove service costs $9.99 a month, or $99 per year. Windows 10 , the upcoming version of Microsoft's operating system, is set to start rolling out at the end of this month.
Xbox Video, as Windows Insiders already know, also is being renamed to Movies & TV.
Windows Insiders will be able to test Groove once Microsoft releases the next Windows 10 preview build for PCs, according to a Microsoft blog post Monday.
After Twitter user @TimN_FL discovered a new page that referred to Xbox Music Pass as Groove Music Pass earlier Monday, a number of us Microsoft watchers were wondering what was in the works.
After all, there's already a Windows Phone/Windows 8 music app in the Store called Groove: Smart Music Player. That app, developed by Canadian startup Zikera, is also available for iOS. The Groove player app from Zikera that exists today is powered by Last.fm. (Last.fm is a part of CBS, which also owns CNET.)
But it seems the new Microsoft Groove and Groove Music Pass have nothing to do with Zikera. When I asked if Microsoft had bought Zikera, a Microsoft spokesperson said "we have nothing more to share at this time." There's nothing on Zikera's site that indicates they have been bought by Microsoft.
This story originally posted as "Microsoft rebrands Xbox Music as Groove" on ZDNet.