Samsung Launches Music Hub Service to Compete With iTunes

Samsung launched its new Music Hub feature on Wednesday that delivers 19 million songs and 100GB of cloud storage to owners of the new Galaxy S3.

"Samsung Electronics Co, today announced the arrival of the much anticipated new Music Hub- the first completely integrated, all-in-one mobile music service," said the company in a press release.

The service will initially be available on the Samsung Galaxy S3, and come out on a wider selection of devices later on this year.

Samsung launched it as a competitor to Apple's iTunes and guarantees "a richer music experience for everyone" with Music Hub.

"When you ask yourself, 'what do I want to listen to? There is now one simple answer, for every mood, every place everyone," said TJ Kang, Senior Vice President of Samsung Electronics Media Solution Center. "With the new Music Hub, we're bringing the joy back to music- listening, collecting and sharing."

The technology used for Music hub is based on mSpot, the leading mobile content service provider that was recently acquired by Samsung.

"We believe that today's mobile market must have an open mobile music system- one that offers all kinds of services across different devices. Music Hub removes all barriers to your music," said Daren Tsui, CEO of mSpot.

Samsung launched both a free and premium version of the service.

The free version offers a 19 million song catalog for users to buy from along with 30-second previews of each of them. Any music purchased is stored in the cloud and will appear on all of the owner's devices.

The premium version will run customers £9.99 (about $15) per month and give users access to radio stations based on their favorite artists.

Music Hub also recommends new songs to users based on their preferences. The service should arrive in the U.S. once the Galaxy S3 is launched here.