Apple rebrands iTunes Festival to promote Apple Music

Apple announced today that it’s dropping the iTunes name from its annual music festival.

Now the “Apple Music Festival,” Apple’s event will feature mainstream artists like Pharrell Williams, One Direction, and Florence and the Machine, and will be streamed via Apple Music and iTunes. The event will run just ten days this year, from September 19 to September 28, in London.

The rebrand reinforces Apple Music as Apple’s primary music brand, above iTunes and Beats. The move is certainly unsurprising, but it’s entertaining to observe Apple’s transition from 99-cent downloads to streaming.

Apple also plans to squeeze Beats 1 into the festivities, according to the company’s press release:

The Apple Music Festival lets fans get even closer to their favorite performers with coverage on Beats 1 alongside backstage news and footage straight from the artists on Apple Music Connect.