Telstra has taken on the music streaming services market in Australia by partnering with US-based MOG to launch its own music subscription service. The launch comes hot on the heels of Sweden-based Spotify, which rolled out in Australia in June.

MOG = Music Blog

‘MOG powered by Telstra’ boasts the highest quality of streaming music available in Australia at 320kbps, and gives users access to unlimited, on-demand access to more than 16 million songs that can be streamed via PC’s, digital music players, smartphones, tablets and wireless HiFi systems.

Extra features such as MOG radio, personalised recommendations and curated content seek to act as the “digital equivalent of walking into the old record store where the guy behind the counter knows your tastes and suggests a few new albums to you”.

A New Direction

Telstra Director of Digital Media and Content Adam Good said research showed subscribers had been moving away from CDs.

“More Australians are accessing music digitally than ever before, and Telstra’s research indicates the number one way Australians are listening to music is via their MP3 player or smartphone.”

Financial services provider PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that digital music services are expected to grow by 15 per cent to become a $290 million business within three years, eclipsing CD sales, which are declining by 18.5 per cent.

“I think CDs will be the last physical format of music. I think all music will be acquired digitally via networks in the future,” says Niv Novak, managing director of Sonos in Australia.

Stiff Competition

MOG enters a crowded Australian market facing with services from Samsung, Sony, BlackBerry, Microsoft, Rdio and Spotify already establised. While Spotify offers a free service with ad support, Telstra’s key point of difference is their unmetered data access for Telstra mobile customers.

Another potential advantage for MOG is that while users can sign up using Facebook, that isn’t compulsory and might appeal to people who don’t like Spotify’s compulsory Facebook registration process.

To learn more visit MOG for a free 14 day trial.