[Barry S]

  Hi Everyone,
 
In regards to subjective sound quality of Spotify vs. Mog, I was listening to Homecoming Heroes by the Head and the Heart on both Mog and Spotify and noticed that Mog had a significantly fuller, detailed sound. I thought this must be due to my excitement about discovering Mog, so I put it to a subjective blind test. I played Another Story by the Head and the Heart and Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men for my girlfriend on both Mog and Spotify. I just told her I wanted her opinion, without mentioning anything about Mog or Spotify. Both times she picked out the Mog playback as the better sounding recording within 20 seconds.
 
For what it's worth..

MOG does an excellent job encoding their 320 kbps MP3s. Spotify quality is more uneven and I read that some of their high bitrate catalog is upsampled from the low bitrate files.

 

[TommyNavara]

From what i can tell, Orastream is expanding and when their catalog will be bigger we'll have FLAC streaming

 

[MaTachi]

MOG doesn't work outside US. That's disappointing, guess I have no choice but to stay on Spotify then.

 

[pjcforpres2020]

I have used both here and there. MOG is way better, IMHO. Feels like a larger/more complete library, better sound quality, and for me a better user interface. I have premium Spotify for free (I was a beta tested way back in the day), and still pony up the $5 a month for MOG.

 

[djhack1639]

Gonna attempt to resurrect an old thread here.
 
I have been a MOG subscriber for at least a year and have never really given Spotify a proper shot. All the reviews seemed accurate in that MOG has a large library and good quality.
 
About a year ago MOG was purchased by Beats. A few weeks ago I received an early invite to reserve a spot on the new Beats Music service. Today I got the launch announcement. 
 
MOG is being replaced by Beats Music. MOG will be shutting down gradually between now and April 15 and they want to convert all subscribers to Beats Music. As far as I can tell it is the same 320kbps quality, same library, etc. The changes are in the branding, interface (have not tried it yet to be more specific), and it is now pretty mobile-centric. There is a new discovery & mood sentence builder looks pretty neat for finding things to listen to. There is no $5/month option for desktop only- it is $10/month for all access or $120/year.
 
For some reason I'm a bit hesitant to give my money to Beats...
Has Spotify's library or quality improved at all over the last year? 

 

[tjones1]

I was using MOG this past fall because some music was noticeably clearer than the same Spotify track. However, I ended up sticking with Spotify because of the superior user interface for their mobile and desktop applications, especially to discover new music. For me, ease of use and discovering new music won over superior audio quality. 
 
So, maybe despite our Beat prejudices, this shift will combine the best of both- true 320 kbs streaming (not up-sampled as some of Spotify seemed to be) and an intuitive, high quality user interface. Spotify seems to have been shady about the true fidelity of their library, but they definitely have been improving there UI, so maybe they have been working on their library content as well. Either way, enjoy the music!

 

[Dallasa]

As far as I can tell it is the same 320kbps quality, same library, etc.

 
Is this confirmed? I really don't want to have to switch over to Spotify because MOG's library was far superior as far as my music tastes go. There's no way I want to pay more money to get less music. Also, Spotify's playlisting ability is inferior for me (having to manually alphabetize playlists? What?). If the only things that are changing are the branding, interface, and subscription fee then I don't really have an issue with trying the new service regardless of the company's poor reputation with audiophiles.

 

[gtcharlie]

On paper it is actually a larger library of music anyway.   As far as depth of offering goes hard to say.   Beats music does offer a free 7 day trial (30 days if you are an A T and T mobile customer) and the 320 kbps has been confirmed.

 

[JerseyD]

Hi.  Longtime MOG user here.  So far, I am very disappointed with the Beats web interface.  The mobile is a bit better.  I had hoped they were going to take what was good about MOG and tweak it.  However, it seems to be all about curated playlists.  
 
The web player flat out sucks.  Can't browse.  Can't figure out how to build my own playlists.  Can't view the cue of songs coming up.  Playlist stops after current song if the tab with player is not the one being viewed (a Safari-specific issue). A list of album tracks will not scroll below the 20th track no matter how many tracks are on the album. What?   Many fixes to be made.  Sometimes the buttons (like Search) just don't work.
 
Music catalogue and sound quality seem to be the same.  MOG plays a little louder at max volume of web player slider (and while louder does not equal better, there is maybe a little more pop.  Too close to call.)

 

[cdeviney]

If you are a MOG lover (out if service 5/31/2014, due to Beats takeover)...
 
The Beats web interface is really lacking, but will hopefully be improving.  Android app is good.
 
Same high quality bitrate as MOG.
 
I haven't been able to find any other music subscription service that beats the cost (5 users, 10 devices for $14.99/month)
 
 

 

[adisib]

What format does MOG stream its files in? I'm not sure how easily one can compare bit rates between formats, but I know the OGG Vorbis Spotify uses has very good quality for the bitrate. Would the better bitrate still be better if MOG has an inferior format?

 

[TooPoor]

Wait, what? MOG is gone at the end of this month? It is far superior to my Spotify Premium, not even close... and it's being taken over by Beats? This has to be a joke.

 

[TJ Elite]

What format does MOG stream its files in? I'm not sure how easily one can compare bit rates between formats, but I know the OGG Vorbis Spotify uses has very good quality for the bitrate. Would the better bitrate still be better if MOG has an inferior format?

A comparison is not that difficult no matter what the format; you just need to use your ears. Of course if you don't level match the whole thing is pretty much pointless.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

You guys think MOG is now owned and operated by Apple since Beats was bought for $3B?

And on other news, who's tried their Spotify premium account with Fidelify? Substantial difference on mid to hi-fi equipment and it's WASAPI/ASIO support: http://www.head-fi.org/t/640619/fidelify-spotify-with-asio-and-wasapi-support/30

 

[Barry S]

  You guys think MOG is now owned and operated by Apple since Beats was bought for $3B?

...

 
Yes. -------->   http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/29/mainstreaming/
 
Beats Music is a hot mess at the moment, so presumably it will either become a lot better or be utterly destroyed by the Apple.