Discover Music and More with MOG
The search for new and under the radar music is always a priority for myself as I surf the web while at work or at home. Until recently, I had depended on sites such as blip.fm, last.fm, Pandora and even Youtube to discover new music and hear portions of new albums. Today I would like to introduce you to MOG. First lets define MOG for you:
“MOG is a place for people to publish thoughts about music, as well as a place to share the names of the songs they play on their computers (using a downloadable program called MOG-O-MATIC that runs in the background and automatically detects songs no matter which music player is used). Additionally MOG has integrated Rhapsody’s Streaming Music Collection, which basically makes MOG into a discovery-oriented interface for streaming music.”
This sounds a little bit like Pandora, Imeem, Slacker Radio and other options already available (for free). The main difference that sets MOG apart from its competitors is that it plays any song you want on demand. There is a $5 charge per month, but after taking the service through some thorough tests, the $5 investment is definitely worthwhile in my opinion. After a quick sign-up process, you are off and running discovering and listening to music. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to listen to the entire albums from Justin Bieber and Shontelle which have recently been released. There are over 340 Stevie Wonder songs at your disposal which kept me busy for at least 60 straight minutes (have you heard Stevie’s version of Redemption Song?). Now, being a Washington, DC-native where Go-Go music was born, I decided to search for some Go-Go bands (both popular and unpopular). I was pleased to discover Rare Essence, Little Benny & The Masters as well as the Godfather of Go-Go: Chuck Brown. That is very impressive. Keep in mind this is only the artist, song search aspect of MOG. There is also a deep Playlist section featuring playlists submitted by artists such as Paul McCartney, DJ Shadow, Elvis Costello and Chuck D from Public Enemy. Resident users of the service (including you) can also submit playlists which can be shared and voted on to increase popularity. If you use last.fm as your destination for all of your music curation, scrobbling is also available.
Within Mog.com is also the MOG Music Network, the editorial-based site hosted at MOG.com, which reaches 16 million unique visitors a month. With contributions from music lovers and the top 900 music blogs that make up its network, “MOG generates over 6,000 music blog posts per week, all hand-curated to deliver the web’s best daily music newspaper. MOG makes it easy to dig deep and find up-to-date information on your favorite artist, album, or song by searching our archive of hundreds of thousands of blog posts.” This is another impressive feature that adds to the surprisingly strong foundation of MOG. The genres for the network range from Rock, Electronic, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Country, R&B/Soul, Folk, Blues and World. MOG also features an Artist of the Week which range from MURS, Thelonious Monk, Buzzcocks and E-40. A funny note is that people who write for MOG are called “Moggers” instead of bloggers which is a cool twist.
The third touchpoint of MOG’s service was launched out of beta in December 2009 and is called MOG All Access. MOG All Access is the streaming music portion and users can get all-you-can stream music for a $5 charge per month (you do get a three day free trial to see if the service will meet your needs). With a 17% conversion ratio from the three-day trial, it is safe to say that people can’t get enough of MOG once they get exposed. What about mobile portability you ask? MOG has completed both an iPhone and an Android app. These apps will feature on-demand streams, downloads, MOG Radio, your library and playlists, High Quality audio, and a $10/month price tag (which includes both mobile and the web version of the service. The killer feature which will have MOG going toe-to-toe with the popular Spotify is the offline playback. Using this, users can tap on a song or album they like and choose to download it to their iPhone or Android device, allowing you to seamlessly use the application when your phone doesn’t have connectivity. Let’s hope Apple approves this app as they have already approved the similar Spotify app (outside the US). Stay tuned for more details on the mobile side as I will post a follow-up review article once the mobile apps have been released for the iPhone and Android.
Are you sold yet? I am. Take the three-day free trial, Follow me on MOG and let us know what you think in the comments section. It only took me three hours to fully commit.
Category: web 2.0 | Tags: Mobile Apps, MOG, Music Streaming
About the Author I am a developing social and digital media junkie on an adventure through life. Right now I am on the chapter in the book where I live in Los Angeles. Reach me on twitter @ahr19. Thanks for reading my post.
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MOG is a a great music service! They offer excellent features and exceptional customer service! I hope Apple approves the app! They are also coming to Roku!