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There’s a new streaming music service in town, but this one’s for the exclusive set. Well, exclusive as in open to the millions of folks owning a Galaxy device. It’s called Milk, and it seeks to perfect the music streaming experience. Don’t they all?
Milk does have a strong foundation. Curated playlists are borrowed from Slacker, one of our favorite (and what we would consider underrated) music streaming services. The experience is therefore very Slacker-like, leaning toward Pandora more so than Spotify. Choosing from hundreds of available genres and micro-genres, users can further customize what they hear by favoriting songs or choosing to hold them out of playlists in the future. A set of sliders allows listeners to further fine-tune what they hear by adjusting preferences for popular music, new music, and user favorites.
Other features include a “Spotlight” section that will be used to showcase exclusive music previews and first listens (in the same vein as a previous Samsung collaboration with Jay Z). Users can also call back previously heard songs if they want to replay one that caught their attention. Milk will keep a running list of the previously played 500 tracks.
We were initially tipped to Milk Music last month after a filing for the name registered to Samsung was uncovered in the USPTO archives. At the time we speculated on a launch at Mobile World Congress. While that did not happen, an actual launch wasn’t far behind.
For now Milk is an ad-free service offering users up to six skips an hour. Its totally free for Samsung users and available now from Google Play.
I like the value add of “free to” Samsung users.
So I got my mom the GN2. Why should she use this over Pandora? Why should I inform her that there is an exclusive?
It seems the main benefit is the memory features, how it’s saving the songs you’ve listened to. Except it seems to have a large history list.
Hmm…
I’ll see if she’d want that feature. Other than that, not a great idea. Mainly because it’s exclusive and exclusives mean you get the device for the exclusive.
Pandora has ads and this is ad-free….
I like how it says “Milk Music, a Samsung service powered by Slacker, is exclusively for Samsung Galaxy owners.”…….unless you own a Samsung Galaxy Nexus -_-
Looks to be just US based Samsung owners too.
This is truly a great app. Innovative controls and works as advertised. This is my new random music app.
This should be free to everyone, with samsung owners getting the ad free, unlimited skip, “premium” account that others would have to pay for.
It is. It is powered by Slacker…
Went to Google Play just to make sure, and AS USUAL, the *Samsung* *Galaxy* Nexus is the asterisk on the “totally free for Samsung users”. I don’t feel entitled to anything but it is obnoxious to always see announcements that state they work for your device (free for Samsung Galaxy users!*) and never do
To be fair, the GN is two generations older, so companies tend to shaft older products whether we like it or not. I am sure it’s probably viable for you since it’s something you may use on a daily basis.
The Galaxy Nexus was their bastard step-child… I still have mine, so I know exactly what you mean! I did write them about it and question their choice to exclude it.
And HeatFan, they shafted it from the start.
Any plans to upgrade soon? I have fallen for the Xperia Z2 (what an elegant, phenomenal phone) – but have no idea whether what the opportunity cost is of purchasing it for like $900 from the UK next month (will it come out in a couple months in the US? 6 months? 1 year?) who knows
Yeah, it’s elegant, if you don’t mind a black rectangle slate with the largest bezels of any smartphone in existence.
Serious question – what is a bezel? I actually attempted to understand it by googling and failed
http://www.techopedia.com/definition/…/bezel
Are you a CDMA version user? I know companies were anxious to get rid of their GN stock by dropping prices to $0 on contract w/ Sprint and Verizon. My cousin had the GN and it was good for him up until he got the Moto X. My friend uses a GN too, but she won’t upgrade until she sees fit.
I’m on Verizon…I’ve still got their unlimited data plan, so I’m looking to make my next phone be something special :)
Figured why you have a miserable GN experience. The biggest issue was probably the updates being slow or was it the Google Wallet fiasco? Yeah, don’t let go of that plan because the minute you’re on a contract, they KO your plan. You save in the long run when buying phones outright. See if you can use the Moto G for a temp device if you need something with newer software. If not, the Moto X 2 would be a great device if Lenovo doesn’t blow it.
Sigh… If samsung would just get rid of those damn hardware buttons.
I’d rather have my screen with more information, less button bar.
How ’bout just the home button. Or i’ d take the onscreen buttons if they merely took the place of the bezel, but they don’t.
Looks ok, but certainly not worth buying a samsung device for.
After using it some, it is better than Pandora. Much wider variety of songs. Better UI layout as well.