MOG is a music streaming subscription service that launched in 2009. This makes it a relative newcomer when compared to services like Rhapsody and Napster, which have been around since the turn of the millennium. Still, MOG has put together an impressive catalog of 11 million songs that can be played in high quality 320kbps. MOG's search features makes it easier to find a song on MOG than it is on other music streaming sites. In fact, MOG was the winner of Billboard's 2010 best music streaming app award.
MOG has a number of unique features. Its Fast Search is the most comprehensive music streaming site search to date. Artists' pages include everything from information about the artist to subscribers' playlists that feature the artist. MOG also has a robust social element that gives each subscriber a profile page and the ability to follow other subscribers to see what music they are playing.
MOG Has the Best Search Function Available: Fast Search
MOG has the most comprehensive and easy-to-use search function of any music streaming subscription service. With 11 million songs in its catalog, that's a real bonus. Search for an artist and you see all the artist’s albums, with a list of songs for each album. The songs and albums can be played right from the search results. MOG calls it "Fast Search." This is unique. Other music streaming services require that you add songs to your queue, library or playlist before you can play them.
When typing a word to search, there is an autofill function that will make suggestions as you are typing. This can be handy when you don't know the exact name of a song or the spelling of an artist's name. The search field is casual and doesn't require proper Boolean formatting like the use of quotes and "AND." If you are looking for a particular song by an artist, simply type in part of the artist's name and part of the song name and MOG will offer suggestions of songs that will pop up and can be immediately played.
Search for a Song in any Playlist
MOG offers broader search-ability of its site. Not only can you search by Artist, Album or Song, but you can search playlists. Other music streaming services will search the names of playlists, but MOG also searches the content of the playlist for a specific song, album or artist. And not only does it search the playlists created by MOG staff, it will search all public playlists created by other subscribers (MOGgers).
What's more, you can type in more than one artist's name to find a playlist that includes all of the artists in your search. You can also type in a tag word or phrase, such as “Black Eyed Peas dance,” to get a dance playlist that includes the group Black Eyed Peas.
MOG Also Displays Blog Results
MOG will also search its Mog Music Network (MMN) for blogs and articles that match the search terms you entered. Music writers and bloggers can register their blogs with the MMN and gain readership when MOG users search a subject about which they have written.
Search for An Album Cover with Moggles
The Android and iPhone apps have a bonus search feature called "Moggles" — a take-off on Google's image search called "Google Goggles." Use your phone to take a photo of an album cover and Moggles will search the MOG library for the album. When you start the search, you'll receive a warning that Moggles is not perfect and may bring up some hilarious results.
So far, that hasn't proven to be true. Moggles has been accurate, although there have been a few albums for which it did not have the full album. "Surfin' Safari" by the Beach Boys, for instance, only had a couple of the original songs.
Moggles would be a great help in two situations in particular: 1) In a record store and 2) when searching for your albums to create a library that includes all of your vinyl albums.
One cannot praise this little feature enough. Walking through Target, I saw a new album and was curious about it. I took out my camera, shot the CD cover and was listening to it by the time I walked through the garden department. It almost felt illegal, but I know that the artists are getting paid for the rights.
One of the biggest hassles of replacing your vinyl LPs with digital versions is the time it takes to look up 400 albums. By using Moggles, you can find an album quickly, “favorite” it, and have it digitally available to play anytime and anywhere you want in your virtual collection.
The Artist's Page
When searching for an artist, click on its name in the search results. This will bring up the artist’s page. On this page you will find their discography listing all of the albums and songs on the albums. You can click on an album or song to play immediately or you can directly add the song to your favorites or a playlist. The artist's most played songs and albums are listed under "Top Songs." The subscribers who have the top number of plays of that artist's song are also listed on the page. You can follow those subscribers who share your love of the artist.
A list of similar artists help you find other music that you might also like. Everything is reachable and playable from the artist's page, including lyrics to many of their songs.
Proceed to Page 2: Customizable Radio Stations, The History of MOG, And MOG Pricing