MOG is a music subscription service that can stream music to your computer, mobile, home stereo system or car.
About MOG
MOG has entered a relatively crowded market in Australia, going up against established streaming services such as Spotify, Grooveshark and Rdio. Like other music subscription services, MOG allows you to discover new songs, search for music and share with your friends through social media channels; however MOG has a few standout features to set it apart from the crowd.
Unmetered for Telstra Customers
Integrated with Telstra - BigPond, A key differentiator for MOG is its unmetered streaming for Telstra’s customers. With MOG’s high quality audio stream at 320kb/s, this can use up quite a lot of data. The unmetered data for Telstra customers feature sounds like a good deal. MOG’s high quality 320 kb/s stream is only matched by Spotify and Songl in the Australian market. Grooveshark streams at mixed quality but mostly at 192 kb/s and Rdio does not share their stream quality.
Compatibility
MOG can stream music to desktop computers and mobile (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android 2.1+). Since my work laptop is unbelievably slow, I’d give MOG two thumbs up for providing a browser version (not available with Spotify); hence neither download nor installation needed. We haven’t tried these features but MOG also streams to media boxes & Blu-ray players on these devices:
• Google TV
• Apple TV
• Logitech UE Smart Radio & Air Speaker
• Sonos • Airport Express
• Samsung Smart TV
According to MOG website, they are working on the final touches of several car integrations, which could be a winner for people who commute to work in cars and for long drive journeys. Having said this, without the car integration, you can always listen to MOG on your car stereo via Bluetooth, an Aux Jack or a Cassette Adapter.
Music Library
It’s a difficult process comparing music libraries between these services, especially if many of them do not share the exact numbers and list of their music catalogue. All in all, there are always albums that you will have difficulty finding in any service. The Beatles for example, not all of their albums can be found in both Spotify and MOG. Spotify in particular shows different catalogue depending on where your location is (location here means the country of your payment method is based). Here’s the summary of music libraries according to their official websites:
• MOG: 16 million songs
• Spotify: “Our music catalogue contains millions and millions of tracks and albums. It’s so enormous, in fact, that it’d take you more than 80 years of non-stop listening just to get through it. And that’s not counting the 10,000 new tracks we’re adding every day.”
• Rdio: “Rdio has millions of songs, from massive hits to rare gems to cult classics, with more added every week. It’s more music than you could listen to in a lifetime.”
• Grooveshark: “Grooveshark is the world's largest on-demand music streaming and discovery service.” Whatever that means…
Pricing
Here are the available pricing details from each official website:
MOG
• Free 14-Day Trial:
o 16 million songs
o No ads
o Listen via web, computer, home & mobile, offline mobile listening
• Basic ($6.99 / month):
o 16 million songs o No ads o Listen via web, computer
• Premium ($11.99 / month):
o 16 million songs o No ads o Listen via web, computer, home & mobile, offline mobile listening
Grooveshark
• Free with ads
• Plus (US$6 / month): no ads
• Anywhere (US$9 / month): no ads, and listen via mobile
Spotify
• Free with ads, unclear about limits
• Unlimited ($6.99 / month): no ads unlimited music streaming
• Premium ($11.99 / month):
o Full mobile experience
o Offline playlist mode
o No ads o Unlimited music streaming
Rdio
• Free 7-day trial unlimited stream
• Web ($8.90 / month): Unlimited browser & desktop streaming
• Unlimited ($12.90 / month):
o Unlimited web streaming
o Unlimited mobile streaming
MOG Web App - First Look
Upon logging in, the welcome screen looked somewhat similar with Spotify with grey overall design, and new releases albums were featured, a good start. We’ll find the navigation on the left side, and playlist in the middle and right. The key difference with Spotify is the play, pause, volumes and current song is on the top of the page and of a bigger size. It makes a bit clearer of where we are with songs and what is currently playing. On the navigation system, we can browse recommended songs, new releases, editors’ picks, and top artists, albums and tracks. The featured albums come from our play history, which is a cool way to discover new songs.
Conclusion
With monthly subscription fees of $7 (basic) and $12 premium, users have unlimited access to 16 million songs in MOG’s library with the highest MP3 quality of 320kb/s. If you are a Telstra customer, it is a wise decision to use MOG since it is unmetered and you can save a lot with your data plan. However, if you are already using Spotify or other subscription services, don’t just take our word for it. Try MOG using the 14-day free trial and see what you think.
