Samsung has begun offering a new streaming radio service, called Milk Music, to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users in the US through the Google Play app store.
Samsung promises its new service, which competes with services such as Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music’s radio stations and iTunes Radio, will be both free to use and commercial free.
The new service, powered by Slacker Radio, has garnered generally positive reviews with a star rating on Google Play of 4.3, although fewer than 100,000 users have downloaded the app so far.
The app is available to download for Galaxy S3, S4, Note 2 and Note 3, as well as the Galaxy S5 upon its launch in March.
However, some users on the Google Play store are already complaining the app is available to download in markets where the service doesn’t currently operate.
The apps interface is built around an analogue radio-style dial, which users can use to “tune in” the station they want.
In a statement, Samsung claims the lack of a login system makes the service more intuitive than some of its competitors.
“Milk Music’s distinctive dial design provides a more intuitive and natural way to listen to music that is more organic and fun.
“With no log-in required and no need to think of a specific artist, song name or browsing through a list of choices, you can just starting listening to music instantly.
“With a growing music catalog of 200 genre-based and curated stations, and 13M songs, Milk Music connects people with the best music, whether it’s a standby song or a new discovery, with significantly fewer repeats.
“Offering more personalization options, the “Fine-Tune Station” feature allows you to adjust the genre-based station based on popularity, novelty and song favorites to further optimize recommendations for the best personalized listening experience.”
It is unclear at this point whether Samsung intends to eventually release the service in Australia.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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