Mog - could be good

[CD44hi]

Okay, thanks!

[monsieurguzel]

Great article that compares MOG to Spotify for those that might be interested:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blog/2011/07/19/streaming-deathmatch-spotify-premium-vs-mog?page=0,0

PS, it's pretty biased towards MOG

[CarlSeibert]

Hey Seibert,

I still don't get what you mean by p2p with this service... I checked the desktop version today and i can't find anywhere an option to let people into my music. Or evidence that such p2p would run in the background.

It is possible that they have dropped that aspect of the service, but there's nothing that I've googled up that suggests that. There are lots of references to the P2P component of the service, press releases, technical papers, forum discussion (on their own forums, even)and a fair bit of discussion amongst admins on how to block the service, or how to block the outbound portions in any case. (Short answer seems to be that it's not too easy; Spotify uses a big range of ports.) The P2P technology appears to have been part of the founding brief of the company. Remember, it was designed to appeal to people who were trading files illegally. So what better than to use torrents? There is a lot of chatter about why the heck there are no controls for P2P in the client software. If you look in your terms of service, you've given them permission to use your machine to distribute their service. It's there, but it's in the bottom half of a clause that starts out about something else, way down near the bottom of the document.

The way it's supposed to work is that you always get the first chunk of a file straight from Spotify. Then you may get subsequent pieces from other users who have that file in their Spotify cache, thus reducing the load on Spotify's machines. It's not supposed to be able to see your local files, just what's in your Spotify cache.

Apparently, you may be able to block P2P activity on your own machine by using your firewall software to throtte down outbound traffic to Spotify's IPs to some amount low enough to cause the service to revert to pure streaming.

Admittedly, I get more skeptical than usual about anything that's been hyped to the heavens and back. But I really would be more comfortable if the company appeared to be a little more forthcoming. (Sounding "hip" doesn't do it) And it's 2011. Americans are not comfortable with malware and their computers having conversations behind their backs. It's not about beating the man anymore. It's about delivering music and in a competitive environment nowadays at that.

My wood burning smartphone won't support either Spotify's or MOG's client, so I have no idea if there's a P2P component on the mobile service. I doubt that such a thing would work. But I just haven't looked into it.

[blessingx]

Top 9 Music Streaming Services Reviewed

[blessingx]

Ugh. Spotify Now Requiring New Users to Have Facebook Accounts... http://ow.ly/6FlGx

[CarlSeibert]

Three pieces of news:

Mog now has a free version, ad supported. According to them, you can send links and anybody can play the song, like you could with Lala. This, if true, is a really good thing.

Spotify will no longer support PPC Macs. Case lesson in why I think the client software model was a dumb idea. And a pisser, since my old laptop in the den is.... a PPC Mac. Not that I listen to Spotify much anyway.

And - drum roll please- Mog introduces, yes, client software for Intel Macs.

[MexicanDragon]

Is there a way to sign up for MOG without facebook? I don't mind doing it, but I didn't see an option to do it another way. I saw some have issues with the facebook only login of Spotify, wanted to see if MOG still had that advantage.

Also, anyone else try Rdio? I had a week trial with the Mobile App. It was OK, used it a bit. Sound quality wasn't that great,, though.

**BRENT**

[blessingx]

With MOG you can optionally login with FB. Also of note, MOG, has a larger library and a far greater percent at 320 kbps (though I doubt some originals began higher from listening) than Spotify. So far the only thing I miss from Spotify is Squeezebox integration.

[MexicanDragon]

With MOG you can optionally login with FB. Also of note, MOG, has a larger library and a far greater percent at 320 kbps (though I doubt some originals began higher from listening) than Spotify. So far the only thing I miss from Spotify is Squeezebox integration.

Try logging out of your account in MOG and then try to create a new account. I don't see a way to do it without facebook connect, do you? I know I didn't do it with Spotify, but now it seems you have to go through facebook... wondering if MOG followed suit.

I've been thinking about doing MOG, Spotify, or Rdio, as a premium member, so I have plenty to listen to on the work rig. I figure, for the cost of a CD per month, it's worth it, but I'm not sure which. I used Rdio's mobile app, but wasn't too impressed. Spotify doesn't have a free trial of that, and I'm not sure MOG does either, but I'm going to see.

**BRENT**

[Grahame]

With MOG you can optionally login with FB. Also of note, MOG, has a larger library and a far greater percent at 320 kbps (though I doubt some originals began higher from listening) than Spotify. So far the only thing I miss from Spotify is Squeezebox integration.

Only a bit longer to wait, Ric.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=662049&postcount=9

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=662501&postcount=12

[CarlSeibert]

Squeezebox integration seems to have taken semi-forever. It'll be a darn handy gadget when it's finally available.

There's a fair bit to annoy in both Spotify and Mog, but when I'm looking for new music, I tend to end up spending more time on MOG. Actually playing music I've already bookmarked (in other words after I'm done being frustrated by both outlets' search engines and poor keywording) it seems to be about 99% MOG.

[MexicanDragon]

FWIW, I noticed that you can sign up without facebook if you sign up through the mobile app... but as far as I can tell, it's FB only on the website.

Sounds like I should check out MOG for paid, and have Spotify around in the free edition guise.

**BRENT**

[blessingx]

Sad to hear about FB login. I've left other companies for the same (like Spotify).

On bright side looks like SB support is here (thanks for the earlier heads up Grahame)

[manaox2]

FWIW, I noticed that you can sign up without facebook if you sign up through the mobile app... but as far as I can tell, it's FB only on the website.

Sounds like I should check out MOG for paid, and have Spotify around in the free edition guise.

**BRENT**

If it has been allowed access to your mobile accounts, it can likely get facebook integration from there which may be happening.

[MexicanDragon]

If it has been allowed access to your mobile accounts, it can likely get facebook integration from there which may be happening.

That's not what it was. It was going to let me create a new user name/PW. I don't care, though... I used FB, but others may want to czech it out.

**BRENT**

[CarlSeibert]

Sad to hear about FB login. I've left other companies for the same (like Spotify).

On bright side looks like SB support is here (thanks for the earlier heads up Grahame)

Excellent!

I'll grab it as soon as I get home.

[CarlSeibert]

Anybody else having trouble getting the new MOG app to work? It does a wonderful job of navigating my MOG favorites. It just won't actually play anything. Returns an error that says it couldn't open the file.

[blessingx]

Been mostly preoccupied with vinyl lately so haven't yet installed. Is it consistent? Logitech's recommended Spotifys implementation (according to Spotify) was to list all artists and tracks irrespective if they were actually available. Some days 80% of what I tied couldn't open. Is that what you're seeing on MOG?

[CarlSeibert]

No, I'm getting the error on tracks that are in my favorites. So they should certainly be available on the service.

It might have been a transient thing. I'll try again tonight when i get home.

[CarlSeibert]

It turns out that you have to have Logitech Media Server 7.77 (yes, they changed the name of Squeezeboxserver /SlimServer/SqueezeCenter yet again) in order to play MOG through your own server. You can play it through the server at MySqueezeBox.com, but upon going there your Squeezebox will get all grumpy about wanting firmware to match the server version. So it's best to upgrade to LMS 777

I ran into some upgrade weirdness on my VortexBox that I should post about in the Squeezebox Touch thread or start a new one. It would have been totally simple had I known at the beginning of the process what I knew at the end.

[mrarroyo]

Hi Carl I looked into Mog but to get it on the iPhone it is like $10 a month, are there any other options? Thanks.

[blessingx]

Spotify - to get on iPhone it's $10 a month.

Rdio - to get on iPhone it's $10 a month.

...

Carl, should have mention MOG setup on Squeezebox went fine, but I'm pretty sure I upgraded first (confirming your theory). MOG-Squeezebox integration is a bunch better than Spotify (at least during their first few days - gave up after that due to artists listed thought majority not available).

[CarlSeibert]

Miguel, there are free computer-based versions versions of both MOG and Spotify. So you can test drive them. Of course, that won't tell you which app is better.

I have a paid MOG account and a free Spotify one. Of the two, I like MOG better, especially for sound quality.

There's a comparison article up on Tyll's site that runs down all the services. I think they're all ten bucks a month on a phone.

[digger945]

It is claimed by MOG that you may not always get higher bitrate on your phone.

I tried Spotify premium for a few months. Using MOG premium now, and like it thus far. Wishing I could make it display all albums, with the tracks contained in each, on one page(like Spotify) without having to look thru each album one at a time.

Love the MOG "similar artists" ratio slider.

[mrarroyo]

Thanks for your feedback guys, for some things I am a cheapskate and paying to hear music on the go is one of them. Sadly in SF the radio stations that I find acceptable are down to two (88.9 and 89.7) so I may be paying for a service in the near future.