Samsung wants to Milk Galaxy owners with lactose-monikered music service
When the iPod was first released, many thought it spelled the end of radio. After all, with an iPod, the listener can select the song of their choice from a library of thousands. Who would want someone else picking the music that they listen to? Quite a bit actually. You see, sometimes you just want to relax and listen to music without thinking -- radio can do that. Not to mention, it can introduce you to music that you were not aware of.
However, radio has expanded beyond AM and FM. While satellite radio is a natural progression, internet radio is the true future. Services like Pandora, iTunes Radio and Google Play Music can offer a wonderful experience wherever an internet connection is available. Today however, Samsung announces a new music service, called "Milk", which is exclusive to Galaxy device owners.
"Delivering on the passion points of consumers, Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung Mobile) today introduced Milk Music, a new, free and ad-free radio service that offers an effortless and entertaining way to enjoy the music you love and discover new, unexpected music. Fully customizable, Milk is designed with an elegant, easy-to-use interface and more than 200 stations that makes tuning into your favorite music a more enjoyable and enriching experience", says Samsung.
The company further says, "with a growing music catalog of 200 genre-based and curated stations, and 13M songs, Milk connects people with the best music, whether it's a standby song or a new discovery, with significantly fewer repeats. In addition, the 'Spotlight' feature offers a continuous curated selection of songs and albums handpicked by music tastemakers and influencers. 'My Stations' allows you to create personal stations based on your favorite songs and albums, easily accessible on the dial, providing limitless listening options. Milk also allows you six song skips per hour per station".
Samsung did not build the service from the ground up, instead opting to work with Slacker. This is probably a good move as Slacker is already a respected and reliable service. However, it is not just a clone.
Sadly though, the service will only work with Galaxy devices. Samsung specifically lists the following:
- Galaxy S4
- Galaxy S III
- Galaxy Note 3
- Galaxy Note II
- Galaxy Mega
- Galaxy S4 mini
- Galaxy S5
Exclusivity with this app is disappointing. However, it is no different than iTunes Radio being exclusive to the iPhone -- not that two wrongs make a right. With that said, surprisingly, I was able to download the app using an LG G2 from the Play Store. Unfortunately, upon opening the app, it gave an error that I was not using a Samsung device.
This is stupid, as Samsung can limit the Play Store downloads to its own devices -- why tease us non-Galaxy owners? While I am sure I can get it to work with some build.prop trickery (spoofing the manufacturer as Samsung), it is not worth the hassle.
Do you own a supported device? If so, try the app and let us know how it works in the comments.
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