All these reviews are too positive. Somebody's got to be paying for them.<br />
<br />
I started using Spotify because its core functionality, downloading and streaming music, works best in its class (probably due to the P2P implementation). That said, as an organized guy, spotify is just not what I'm looking for. A company full of software engineers can't offer simple things like automatic alphabetization of playlists or a "Shuffle All" button on mobile. The features Spotify lacks are absolutely appalling and it just isn't working between us. Finally, because the customers are footing a large part of the bandwidth bill now, I expect Spotify to either be cheaper or better, neither of which it is. Finally, facebook integration is compulsory. For everything Spotify has going for it, there are just too many missteps. One can safely assume there will be more as time passes.<br />
<br />
MOG is beautiful and has a much better mobile interface. It also has Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd records that the other services seem to lack. I don't know anything about song library size; all I know is that I have certain artists and albums I use as a metric to see if a service has too much crap blacked out. MOG passed that test. I should have tried Kanye West or CSN(Y). I really WANT to like MOG, but I just can't. As an engineer, the first rule is to get the important stuff right first. Streaming and playback in MOG on the iPhone flat out don't work right. Spotify might crash after hours of listening. I cannot get through an album in MOG (even one that's been downloaded).<br />
<br />
It's a world of compromises out there. The only streaming service I have used which delivers on almost all promises is Zune Pass. The collection is big and the app well organized. Unfortunately an iPhone and Linux option are not part of that.<br />
<br />
What is a music lover with $120 a year to do? At the end of the day, piracy is still the best option, and that's really sad.
