MOG announces free music streaming option

By Andrew Couts September 15, 2011

MOG-desktop

Streaming music service MOG announced Wednesday the launch of a free service option to compete with Spotify, the European online music star that arrived in the United States in July.

“Our obsessed subscribers, and reviewers alike, tell us we’ve built the best way to listen to and discover music, and we’re so excited that we can now provide people with free access,” said David Hyman, MOG founder and chief executive, in a statement.

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Until now, MOG has only been available for a monthly subscription fee of $5 or $10 per month, depending on the features offered. Spotify also offers similar paid service, but offered a free version available immediately upon launch. Like Spotify’s free version, MOG’s cost-free option will limit the amount of time users can listen to music. And free MOG users won’t be able to use the service’s mobile apps for listening on the go, which is also a stipulation with Spotify’s service.

Spotify gives users 20 hours of free listening-time each month. MOG has not yet announced how much free music subscribers will have before they’re cut off, but says users will have the ability to “earn music” to keep the tunes jamming. And sometimes, users might get some songs for free, just ’cause MOG’s nice like that.

“Sometimes you might do things like add Bob Dylan to a playlist, and because we like Bob Dylan, we’re just going to give you free music,” Hyman told the San Francisco Chronicle. “There will be serendipity, and you’ll get free music for events that you wouldn’t expect.”

To cover the cost of the free option, which MOG calls FreePlay, the company will run ads. For the next 60 days, however, FreePlay will run without advertising as a way to get users on board before they bombard them with groove-killing pitches.

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