MOG Launches $5 Music Streaming Today
UPDATE 2:
MOG.com is live. Read my "first look" here.
MOG's All Access premium music service goes live in the U.S. today (12/2) at 7 AM PST. MOG promises a deep on-demand library for $5 a month with a free trial offered at launch. All four major label groups have signed on.
Watch a MOG intro video:
All Access builds on the Mog.com network of music blogs and its 10 million monthly visitors. CEO David Hyman has worked at Gracenote, SonicNet, Addicted to Noise and MTV; and Rick Rubin sits on the board. But experienced execs do not guarantee success and paid subscription music has failed to gain traction with consumers before.
MOG's $5 price is a major selling point, but struggling Napster matches MOG's price with a 3 month commitment and adds in free mp3's. What could set MOG apart is its interface; and a sneak preview shows a design that borrows heavily from iTunes and Spoitfy with strong playlist and music discovery features.
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You should make clear that MOG All Access will only be available in USA. Bad, because they are dividing their world wide Moggers in two different groups with that step! Welcome to the global world… 🙁
Yes, Napster is available in other western countries. So count that as another of their advantages.
Truth be known, lots of wonderful internet music services are available in America only. Pandora and Lala.com to name two. They claim it has to do with different licensing requirements in different countries. But it is kind of a lame excuse. Spotify, of course, is available in some European countries, but not here. Can the music labels not get their act together so that these websites … from the internet which is everywhere …. can always be global?
MOG will be in Europe by April/May, 2010.
@david: Please define “Europe”. Which countries? Germany too?
Checking it out now, sound quality seems superior to Rhapsody. But very flaky in some places. For instance:
http://mog.com/music/Elefant
Click on “Play Elefant Radio” – there is some faulty logic at play here. I would expect to hear music by the artist who’s page I clicked on, not a children’s act.
But hey, it’s the first day. I’m going to subscribe, and as a long term Mogger I hope they succeed. To really change they game, they need to focus on integrating the social and the streaming, so it becomes really easy for MOGGERS to share music they like in posts etc. It’s a good start.
Licensing restrictions in different territories isn’t “a lame excuse”, it’s the current reality of music licensing. Launching any service is a tough gig. Kudos to MOG, looking forward to exploring it more.