Beats Music sets shutdown date for MOG music service
With the arrival of the Beats Music service today that means the last days of the MOG music service are drawing near.
MOG will close down on April 15, according to a Beats Music Support notice on Beatsmusic.com.
The update, part of a MOG Q&A on the BeatsMusic web site, reads: "The MOG service will remain live until April 15, after which it will be shut down, and MOG will stop accepting shortly after Beats Music goes live. Monthly billing will cease on March 15, and all yearly subscriptions will be refunded on a prorated basis. Our goal is to convert as many MOG subscribers to Beats Music as possible. As part of that effort, all existing MOG subscribers will be offered a one-month free trial of Beats Music, which will be made available starting March 15."
Responding to questions for a USA TODAY review of the Beats Music service, the company said that MOG subscribers would be transferred over to Beats Music in the next 90 days and that MOG would be phased out in the coming months.
Beats Electronics acquired MOG in 2012 and at the time Beats president and COO Luke Wood said that MOG's commitment to music fidelity sold them. "They were the first service to offer their entire catalog in the 320-kilobit format. I also think they were the most progressive and the first service to be really committed to multiple access points in the deals they did with LG and Samsung for the TV and BMW for the car (and) they were very quick to push music to the smartphone," Wood said. "They understand that the consumer wants ubiquity. They have an extremely talented management team and engineering staff. So it's really about the product, the service and the talent at the service we are buying."
MOG founder and CEO David Hyman said at the time that "Beats is a company as obsessed with sound quality as we are, and we share a common goal of creating a more premium sound experience and emotional connection with music in the digital era. ... Time will tell exactly how we integrate our products and services."
Beats Music carries over MOG's commitment to sound quality and also has in-depth biographical information on artists. And it will have more leverage to create a truly all-inclusive catalog. What remains to be seen is if Beats Music can establish and expand upon the true community created in the pre-mobile days on MOG, which was founded in 2005.
On Twitter, MOG user @entroporium said that "I'm looking at tomorrow's transition to Beats Music with trepidation. Really love the current service."
But another user ?@CEnevoldsen noted that he can't wait to test drive the new service. "My @mogdotcom is all grown up."
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider
