Spotify, MOG, Grooveshark, and other similar services are gaining popularity in the world of music streaming.
With these services, you essentially “rent” songs. You can listen to almost anything without having to purchase it. Sitting through an occasional ad is the “price” you pay for the free option, but you can subscribe (for a monthly fee) to listen ad-free on your computer, as well as on phones and other devices.
Streaming can be a great resource to test your system, discover new music, and create playlists, but which of these services has the best audiophile quality?
The answer is MOG and Spotify.
These two services can stream at a bitrate of 320 kbps, which is the highest of any streaming services available right now.
On MOG, you can stream at 320 kbps on your computer even with the free plan, but to stream without ads, you must subscribe for $4.99/month to the Basic plan and to get access on your mobile and other devices, you’ll pay $9.99/month for the Primo plan.
To stream at 320 kbps on Spotify, you must be a Premium subscriber at $9.99/month, which will also give you access to the mobile app, ad-free music, and the offline playlist mode.
Both services have catalogs of over 15 million songs, but some of our users have commented that with MOG, you know all songs will be at 320 kbps, while on Spotify you may find a few that aren’t available at that quality.
Pandora One is another interesting pick.
While Pandora One only streams at 192 kbps, some of our users are subscribers because of its unique algorithm system. Pandora recommends songs to you depending on which songs you give a “thumbs up,” a “thumbs down,” or skip. You have less control in what you are listening to, which many people enjoy because they use it to discover new artists similar to those they already enjoy.
Let us know what services you use and how you use streaming services by commenting below!
Audiogon Blog 