Samsung launches Music Hub service in the U.S. on the Galaxy S III

News by Dan Seifert on Tuesday July 31, 2012.

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Samsung Music Hub

Samsung is launching its Music Hub service in the U.S. today, providing Galaxy S III smartphone owners with yet another way to listen to their favorite tunes on the go.

Music Hub, which is comprised of three separate services under one umbrella, has already been available in Europe for some time. The three services it offers are a cloud storage locker, on-demand streaming music, and personalized radio stations. The cloud storage feature is a combination of what is offered by Apple's iTunes Match and Google's Play Music service, as it allows users to upload up to 100GB of their own music for access anywhere and has a scan-and-match feature to save upload bandwidth.

Music Hub customers are able to purchase or stream songs from Samsung's music catalog, powered by 7digital, and create personalized radio stations based on favorite songs, artists, or genres. Users will be able to access their stations and purchased music on a variety of devices, as well as through a browser-based web player.

Samsung is offering both free and paid versions of Music Hub to users. The free version offers the ability to purchase music from the catalog, store purchased music in the cloud, and use the web player. The paid version costs $9.99 per month and provides the complete cloud locker service, streaming service, and radio stations. Samsung is offering a 30-day free trial of its premium service and a free album to new subscribers.

We have had a chance to play with the Music Hub service on a Galaxy S III for a couple of weeks, and while it is convenient to have the three services joined in one app, it's hard to see how this is a better service than the litany of options already out there. Fans of cloud locker services can use Google's Play Music service for free, while those who want streaming services will likely be better served by Spotify, Rdio, and the like.

The Music Hub app is available to download on the AT&T and U.S. Cellular versions of the Galaxy S III through the Google Play Store or the Samsung Hub now. Samsung says that availability of Music Hub for the Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint versions of the phone will be announced at a later date.