Does DP need a name change?

[conleycd]

So as I was driving into work. I started thinking that maybe Digital Performer needs a name change. My lacky friends - who all want to have a little project studio - have never heard of DP. It might be a Canadian thing as DP is not advertised or marketed well here. It is always Cubase, Logic, or Pro Tools.

But, then I was thinking - maybe MOTU needs a cooler name (I guess this is all marketing). Digital Performer is not really descriptive. It sounds like
some sort of computerized graphic dance program.

Digital Performer - Six syllables. Awesome software. But the name hmmm - not descriptive or cool.

Now, let's look at the competition:

Pro Tools - Well, not really a bunch of tools and makes me think of a tool belt but... it is well known. Two syllables.

Live - Sounds cool. Short, to the point. Everyone wants to be good "live." One syllable.

Logic - Not really "logical" but it gives the impression that it is. Two syllables. Ridiculous price.

Cubase - Reminds me of the video game Qubert. Two syllables. Free with every frickin interface - therefore very frickin popular. PC and MAC versions make it extra popular for a freebe.

Nuendo - Cubase on steriods and makes me think of "New" Cubase. Three syllables.

Sonar - Two syllables. Kinda cool name I guess.

Maybe I'm hung up on the syllables - but everyone else is shorter and seemingly more cool.

Well... that's my DP thought of the day.

[billf]

Logic - Not really "logical" but it gives the impression that it is. One syllable.

Actually two syllables.


As for DP and a name change, all I care about right now is getting my DP6 pre-order (said in that Austin Powers voice: yeah baby!!), so I'm too excited to have a thought about a name change.

[conleycd]

Of course I had to edit my original post to not look like an idiot. Log - ic. Yup, you're right the clapping seems to line up.

CC

[MIDI Life Crisis]

DP has already gone thru a name change. Actually two. It started out a Performer, but when people started calling it "P" it sent the wrong message. Then it went to Digital Performer and "DP" stuck. Could have been worse. They might have called it "Digital Universal Musician Performer" but if people started calling it "DUMP" that would be worse than pee - IMO.

Then there is "Logic" which many feel is logical (and what Apple wants you to think of.) Some might refer to it as LO or even LOL.

And Cubase. which for some reason, some southerners in the USA refer to as "Cubasis" (I don't know why). Also known as "C" for the rating many pro users would give it if they were to use it. I think there are perhaps 3 professionals who use that program and they are paid spokespersons - when they are not using "C" they move to the next letter of the alphabet and work in "DP."

Moving on to the last elephant in the room, we have Pro Tools, AKA "PT." The problem there starts when you go to buy it and ask for "PT" at the store. The guy hands you a roll of paper towels and you start to look for the system requirements on the package. It was going to be named "Tools for Pros" or "TP" but in test marketing, people asked for "TP" and were handed toilet paper - which in the opinion of many is what is actually needed in PT - perhaps as a plug in (or maybe a "Jam In".)

So there you have it. Digital Performer has the best name and I say we keep it. DP. DeeP. Darn near Perfect. Darling of the Professionals.

I'm Done Pontificating.

[homebilly]

i'd say DP is already hit with Rocco Siffredi and his gang

[96khz]

And Cubase. which for some reason, some southerners in the USA refer to as "Cubasis" (I don't know why).

Cubasis was a different application, a kind of Cubase LE. I don't think it is being developed anymore.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinberg_Cubase

[monkey man]

I suggested Digital Producer 3 or 4 months ago, and I still like it.
Seeing as DP isn't live-performance oriented and is much more a production environment than a performance tool, I feel this name is apt.

It's a name that also implies professionalism.
I'm frankly amazed no-one else has used it for a DAW, but then this could simply be because of brand loyalty and the potential cost and risks of seeking to re-establish one's place in the market.

Given MOTU's obvious "minor player" status in terms of sales, and the fact that it wouldn't lose customers or a whole lot of market share due to a name change, If I were in front of the board right now, well, I'd say to it what I've said here.

Oh, and as a bonus it's still be DP.

[bug67]

No frakin' way should DP change its name!

If'n it did, I'd have to change my own initials. Yes, Digital Performer and Dave P. share initials. That's the real reason why I use it!

[Housealien]

i'd say DP is already hit with Rocco Siffredi and his gang

and Roxy Jezel

don't change the name....I love you MOTU!!!

[Resonant Alien]

DP is two syllables

[kassonica]

Deep n Pure

[Resonant Alien]

Of course, when I was a kid, DP was a company that made cheap exercise equipment that was sold at Sears, so maybe it does need some sexin' up...

[PrimeMover]

I don't think that many of the big audio production software names are really very good. Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer... these all strike me as "blah", as a sort of half-ass attempt at making a description of the product. "Pro Tools" especially, which is such a generic name that for the first month after I first heard it (back in the late 90s), I had to continually ask whether it was a piece of software or a hardware store. "Logic" strikes me as a tad presumptuous without really getting across any idea in particular.

"Cubase" is, at the very least, a name. It doesn't try to be descriptive in any way, it's just a cool word, and I think it works. I'd rather names try NOT to be descriptive and succeed at being interesting, instead of trying to be descriptive and failing. It's not great, but it works better than the others.

My favorite, by a long shot, though, is "Sonar", which is quite evocative, while retaining that connection with the audio realm. It's vaguely "techy" and cool but without being made of jargon.

I think that more companies need to hire marketting personel right off the bat. The results are obvious. Pro Tools, Performer, Logic (from EMagic), and Cubase were all early or first products by their respective company. Sonar, on the other hand, came many years later after Cakewalk (bad name) was up and running with a team of marketting directors and could hire people who had good naming sense.

Oh, and let's be honest. "Mark of the Unicorn" is probably one of the lamest names on the face of the planet. Sure, we may have grown used to it, maybe even learned to like it; but we're fans, so by nature, it's our job to turn a blind eye to faults like this. MOTU, pronounced as an accronym, is vaguely fun to say, but means absolutely nothing... "Mark of the Unicorn", on the other hand, is a verging-on-detrimentally-bad name.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

DP is two syllables

How about Two Silly Bulls as the name of the new DAW?

...let's be honest. "Mark of the Unicorn" is probably one of the lamest names on the face of the planet.

We're gonna start being honest in this thread? I mean, isn't this the humor section of UNation? But mark of the unicorn always reminded me of a horse with a horn pissing on a tree. Might just as well call it Piss on the Trunk. Oh wait, that would be POTT (I like it, I like it!) Or P/T for short. Damn, taken!

[Radiogal]

And Cubase. which for some reason, some southerners in the USA refer to as "Cubasis" (I don't know why).

Cubasis was a different application, a kind of Cubase LE. I don't think it is being developed anymore.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinberg_Cubase

FWIW: Cubasis is/was just and only MIDI...as I can remember...