Offering unlimited streaming for $5 per month

Oct 14, 2009 09:43 GMT  ·  By

Failure is apparently a great incentive as there is no other explanation for the flood of music streaming apps being launched to replace the many that have failed so far. Despite many going under and the ones that do survive hardly making ends meet, MOG, a music-centered blogging network, is now launching an online music service of its own, MOG All Access, with unlimited streaming for $5 a month. It expects to compete with the free MySpace Music and Spotify, which is coming to the US soon, by providing a “drop dead easy” method of listening to any song you like.

Of course, that's exactly what Spotify offers and you can do it with a dedicated desktop app bypassing the need for any web browser. Still, MOG is confident it will succeed where the likes of Napster have failed. The service enjoys the backing of all of the major music labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Music, and also has access to thousands of indie labels through deals with IODA and Beggars Group.

It boasts a catalogue of five million songs available at launch and it should become live in the US before November 26. "We're providing access to millions of songs with a drop dead easy way to hear any song or album you like in an instant, from the convenience of your web browser," MOG CEO David Hyman said.

"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," he added. Of course that is completely true, for a business, since ad-supported models don't really work out and it makes much more sense to have a monthly subscription. But this ignores the fact that ad-supported free services do exist and, despite being less than successful, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.