MOG

MOG was a paid subscription online music service and blog network, where subscribers could listen to and read about music. Subscribers could play tracks available in its catalog on a variety of digital devices, including computers, handheld devices, Sonos systems and television. MOG also allowed users to access aggregated editorial content from music blogs, user posts, and in-house editors. MOG was founded by David Hyman, formerly CEO of Gracenote, SVP of Marketing at MTV Interactive, and Director of Ad Sales for Addicted to Noise. It was privately held and headquartered in Berkeley, CA. The company raised capital from a variety of sources, including Balderton Capital, Menlo Ventures, Simon Equity, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music. Music producer Rick Rubin was a member of MOG's board of directors. After purchasing MOG in 2012, Beats Electronics in January 2014 announced that the MOG service would shut down in the United States on 15 April 2014. This date was first indefinitely postponed, but then it was shut down on 31 May 2014. Its successor system, Beats Music, launched in the United States on 21 January 2014 and then was in turn acquired by Apple Inc. in May 2014. History Founded in June 2005, MOG began as a music-themed social network and blog network. Users could create profiles with information about their music tastes, and the MOG-O-MATIC client application assisted in the process by scanning users' music libraries and populating their profiles with information about their music collection and listening activities. MOG also recommended users with similar music tastes. Users could compose blog posts, read posts composed by other users, and listen to 30-second samples of songs.