OH SNAP! (Yes, this is an “oh snap” level story.) iTunes, girl, I hope you got your Air Jordans laced tight, because Samsung is about to give you a run for your money. But hey, it’s cool — take a breather, my American friends — because for the moment, the aptly-named Samsung Music Hub will only be available via the company’s new Samsung Galaxy S III phone in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. As of today, you can only peep the new service via the Galaxy S III, although expansion to other Samsung devices will soon be added. “But!” you’re saying, “My Apple! My iPod! My Steeeeeve Jooooooobs!!!!! Why would I ever even consider this silly upstart service when I have these time-tested name brand products I get to upgrade every few years?” (Except for Jobs obviously, you can never replace that dude.)
Because, as a great man — a man many once considered the Steve Jobs of Yacht Rock — once said, “The heat is on / It’s on the streets.” (That man was Glenn Frey.) Case in point: the venerable iTunes boasts a solid 20 million + tracks. Samsung Music Hub has over 19 million tracks. If you do your algebra correctly, you’ll find that the answer to this formula is “Not too shabby.” So what does it all mean? Well, the new Samsung service lets users stream tracks through a cloud, as well as letting users download those tracks for their offline pleasure. Users who want to go “Premium” can also shell out €9.99/month to upload their own entire personal music catalogs to the cloud (up to 100GB), stream the entire Hub catalog, and get Spotify/Pandora-esque artist-based radio stations. Glenn Frey, man. The dude was a prophet. “Inside your head, on every beat / And the beat’s so loud, deep inside / The pressure’s high, just to stay alive / ‘Cause the heat is on.” IS IT EVER.
• Samsung: http://www.samsung.com
• Apple: http://www.apple.com
