Online Music War: Samsung Vs Apple

Subscription-based streaming music on the internet was attracting "a lot of followers" in overseas markets, Mr Campbell added. "So all of our focus is on that at the moment and we think Samsung has the potential to deliver something really game-changing in the local market. Our biggest challenge every day is to find new ways to make it easier for people to consume music. So we think that [Samsung's Music Hub] gives that to Australian consumers."

The launch of the new service comes as JB Hi Fi recently announced that it too would launch a subscription-based music streaming service in the second quarter of the 2012 financial year. JB intends "to have between 6 to 8 million tracks from 100,000 artists at launch". Its service will allow for unlimited access and listening to music from a Mac, PC or mobile device, according to CEO Terry Smart.

Music Hub was unveiled at an event last Thursday night in Sydney featuring bands Faker and The Potbelleez. Solo artist Pete Murray was also there, as was dance singer Zoe Badwi. Former Australian Idol presenter James Mathison hosted the event and boasted about the new service, which Sony, Warner, EMI and Universal have all signed up to, meaning at launch there will be three million songs available and 11,000+ music videos.

It will initially be available from October 17 on the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone, which is a direct rival to the iPhone. From November 1 Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7" will also get access to the service, as will other Galaxy Android v2.2 devices and higher. Come "mid-December" web browsers and Samsung smart TVs, smart home theatres and smart Blu-ray devices will also get access.

It's important to note, however, that the $14.99 "premium" plan will be required for access on a web browser and on smart TVs, home theatre and Blu-ray devices. The premium plan gives access to the Music Hub on four devices and a web browser. It is what allows access to music videos on web browsers, smart TVs, home theatres and Blu-ray devices.

The entry-level $9.99 plan will get you access to the Music Hub on either a smartphone or tablet. That plan will also allow access on multiple smartphone or tablet devices, although only one device can be logged in at time according to Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee. It will only offer music - not music videos.

Asked whether Samsung's service would attempt to gain market share from Apple's iTunes, Mr McGee said he "wouldn't try to compare" what Samsung was offering to what Apple had in the marketplace. "I think our offering is very different to what they're offering."

Music is streamed at 128kbps on Music Hub - standard for most MP3 downloads - and the streaming music is protected by the record labels with digital rights management (DRM) so you can't copy it onto other devices. You can, however, download an MP3 using Music Hub for $2 and copy it onto whatever you like without DRM, EMI's Mr Campbell said.

The smartphone version of the app will allow caching of up to 500 songs, meaning even if you don't have access to the internet (say on a flight) you can still listen to music. "We think 500 is sufficient based on the capacity of most devices and based on people's music taste," EMI's Mr Campbell said.

He said the number of songs initially available - three million - would increase "week by week" as independent labels were added. "So it could well be double that by Christmas."