Telstra-partnered MOG music streaming launches

Australians have a new option for streaming music from today, with US-based MOG launching through Telstra's BigPond Music service.

(Credit: MOG)

MOG subscribers get access to 16 million songs to stream through a web browser, PC or Mac client, or to smartphones running on iOS or Android. Songs can be downloaded and listened to offline, as well. Pricing starts from AU$6.99 for a basic PC-only subscription, or AU$11.99 for a service including both PC and mobile device access. Unlike Spotify, there is no ad-supported free-to-play option, though.

The MOG team is advertising the high-quality music streaming available in Australia — 320kbps — or the same as the high-quality service offered by competitor Spotify. MOG enters the Australian market facing stiff competition, with services from Samsung, Sony, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Rdio already up and running.

Compared with these other services, MOG has a simple user interface, but lacks the deep music-discovery tools of services like Spotify and Rdio. Its music catalogue is comparable, in volume at least, but its social-networking integration seems much more rudimentary. MOG users can send friends direct links or blast tracks to Twitter and Facebook, but there are no celebrity playlists, random song mixes or dedicated in-service apps as there are in the other streaming services.

In its favour, MOG benefits from its partnership with Telstra in Australia, with unmetered data for streaming to Telstra BigPond customers.

To check out MOG for yourself, head over to MOG.com to sign up. New subscribers can trial the service for 14 days free, but you will need either a BigPond account or a credit card to activate a new account.