Elegant, simple, no intrusive ads. Those are the first impressions of Samsung’s new streaming radio service according to those who’ve given it a go. Milk Music. It is being compared to Apple’s iTunes Radio, Spotify and Pandora, radio streaming services that are already very popular. You can throw in Rdio into that list as well. Google recently brought radio streaming or something like that to its Play Music app which has had Play Music All Access for a while now (announced at I/O 2013). Like Apple’s service, Milk Music as the name implies is available only for Samsung Galaxy devices. Like all the other streaming services out there, Samsung is making Milk Music available only in the United States at the moment with no word on whether it will make it to other markets but those in the know speculate that coming months may see it come to other markets as well.
What does it offer?
- Unlimited streaming
- 200+ pre-loaded stations
- Full customization – you can create your own stations
- Can be synced with your Samsung account if you want to keep your created stations even though no sign up is required to use the service
- Pre-caching of tracks for instant playback
- It’s free!
The question is, with Milk Music now available to all Galaxy smartphones in the US, will we see it opened up to other non-Samsung Android devices? If what we’ve seen with other Samsung efforts is anything to go by then of course the answer is a big no. Samsung’s recent high end devices starting from the Galaxy S4 ship without FM radio functionality and have left many to just stream their favourite radio stations online. While current usage trends don’t suggest that users will ditch TuneIn Radio or similar apps and services and exclusively stick with curated music streaming services like Milk Music, the usage of apps like Spotify clearly justifies Samsung’s foray into this. Plus they have millions of users of their Galaxy smartphones so you know how this one goes. Apple managed to get its loyal user base to quickly adopt iTunes Radio and with the way the app is designed, here’s to hoping that the service is exceptionally good.
