mSpot’s Radio Spotter Beta Adds Another Twist to Cloud Music Players and Radio Streaming Apps

The folks at mSpot have just announced their Radio Spotter Beta application to Android. Radio Spotter gives users two unique features from two different types of cloth. On the cloud streaming side, you can upload your own music to mSpot and play it back on your Android device without it needing to be stored on your microSD card. It’s not unlike Google and Amazon’s offerings. You get 5GB of storage free, and 40GB more costs just $3.99 per month.

The second part of the equation – streaming radio – allows you to discover new music based on what’s already in your music library. Alongside being able to listen to music stations based on specific artists or genres, it’ll take a look at the songs and albums you have and feed you new music that’s similar without you needing to go through the trouble of defining artists or genres yourself.  Take a look at the full feature set in the press release below. [Market]

The First Combined Streaming Radio and Cloud Music Service, Launches

mSpot Music™ Offers Radio Spotter™

–      Match the Songs You’re Playing to Hundreds of

Internet Radio Stations

New Service Offers Instant Access to Free Internet Radio Stations Based on Favorite Genres and Artists – Initially Available for Android

Palo Alto, Calif. (May 26, 2011)—Popular cloud entertainment provider mSpot, Inc., today announced Radio Spotter™ Beta – the first digital music service to combine a cloud music and storage locker service with streaming radio. The new service offers two main features: Match the songs you’re playing from your personal online music collections, to similar music playing on hundreds of radio stations across the Internet; or, instantly select Internet radio stations you’ll like, based on music genres or your own artist searches. Radio Spotter puts the metadata in your music collection to work by matching whatever you’re listening to, and quickly adapts to offer new recommendations based on your changing preferences.

“Radio is still the easiest and most popular music discovery tool – people love its spontaneity and variety. Yet, it can take years to discover the best radio stations. We’re giving people a mash up between Cloud music and streaming radio:  It’s a great way for people to find new music and enjoy their own – all in one service,” stated Daren Tsui, CEO and co-founder of mSpot.

How does Radio Spotter work?

• Put your music collection on the Internet: Go to www.mSpot.com and upload your music collection from your PC/Mac^® into your own personal music locker in the Cloud. Now, you can access it anytime, anywhere from your Android or any PC/Mac.
• Download the mSpot Music Android App on your phone. Your music will appear on your phone.
• As you listen to your music on mSpot Music, the service will match the songs and artists you’re playing with similar music on hundreds of Internet radio stations. These stations will be available in the “Stations Suggestions” tab. The service keeps track of what you’re listening to and gives you new recommendations as the music you’re listening to changes.
• Favorite stations can be saved for easy reference on the app homepage.
• New songs can be flagged for future reference and automatically synced to their online accounts at www.mspot.com for later purchase, through Amazon or iTunes music stores.
• The “Browse Stations” tab offers an instant selection of Internet radio stations, which are always available through the service without matching songs to your own music collection. You can also search by favorite artists to find radio stations playing music by that artist, or similar artists.
  • Genres range from Alterative and Rock to Dance and Electronic, Pop, Urban, Country, Reggae, Latin, Jazz, Spiritual, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, Youth, Bollywood, French and Canadian.

How mSpot Music with Radio Spotter Differs from Existing Music Services:

• Unlike Pandora and Slacker; Play all of your own music alongside new music that is discovered on real radio stations: Your own music collection is the basis of all the new music you find and listen to.
• Unlike iTunes; Store your music collection in the cloud so that you can always access it, wherever you are. Your music is connected to the Internet, so you can match your preferences to hundreds of Internet radio stations to discover and play new music for free.
• Unlike subscription services like Rhapsody, MOG and Rdio; Listening is free. Match the music you already love with music playing on radio stations all over the Internet.
• Unlike Cloud storage services like Amazon or Google; Listening is not limited to your own music, or music for purchase; your music now connects you to hundreds of radio stations.

Radio Spotter Beta is available in the Android Market for Android users, in the United States only; iPhone, PC/Mac and other internet connected device support will be offered later in 2011, along with new premium features. mSpot Music is available at www.mspot.com for PC and Mac, in the Apple^® App Store and Android Marketplace.

mSpot Music offers the following features:

• Instant access to music collections from mobile, PC/Mac^® and Web-ready TV.
• Smart syncing across devices: No USB cords required; instantly syncs music from the cloud to user’s mobile; avoids playback interruptions.
• Automatically exports playlist, metadata, cover art, and more from iTunes.
• Continuous playback, even during spotty cellular coverage.
• Airplane mode: play cached songs on the phone without network connectivity.
• “Live Lyrics”: read the words to select favorite songs as they play on mobile.
• “Streaming only” option for users who want to save all the storage on their mobiles for other media.

mSpot Music offers free cloud storage for the first 5 gigabytes (approximately 4,000 songs): Additional storage is available for purchase; 40 gigabytes for $3.99 per month.