Just when you thought media darling Spotify was going to be the sexiest music service of the year, music blogging platform MOG is announcing plans to offer a $5 dollar per month, all-you-can-hear music service. In an interview with MOG CEO David Hyman, ReadWriteWeb
learned that tomorrow morning the company will announce deals with Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI. While other services are scrambling to sign licensing agreements with the four major US labels, MOG All Access will launch before November 26. It looks like Americans will have plenty to celebrate this Thanksgiving.
MOG All Access is a browser-based service that will offer more than 5 million on-demand tracks from a number of major and indie record labels. Similar to Grooveshark the service will require no installation; however, unlike Grooveshark, MOG will not provide a free music service beyond its initial trial period.
Says Hyman, “The problem with free services is that if too many people use them, you can’t offset the licensing fees with ad revenue. There’s only so much you can do with advertising, but the subscription model ensures that you’re running something sustainable.”
For the cost of five monthly iTunes purchases, users gain access to a huge catalogue of on demand music and music reviews. While MOG’s editorial service and MOGtv channel will remain free to the general public, the subscription service will offer easy access to songs, radio recommendation features and a plethora of popular tunes. Because Hyman has negotiated for full access to files, his service will not be bound by the same streaming radio restrictions as Pandora. Hyman was also excited to announce that mobile device integration with the iPhone and Blackberry is expected before the end of 2009. And if the low cost of the upcoming subscription service isn’t promising enough, MOG’s first mobile release will boast the same offline caching features that make Spotify’s US launch so widely anticipated.
With data from more than 700 of the top music blogs and an editorial lineup that already draws more than 9.5 million unique monthly visitors, MOG’s recommendation service will offer more than just your run-of-the-mill selection. The community of music mavens appears poised for total noise domination and if competitors are smart, they’ll fire back before the new year.
