Dr Dre looks to pop Spotify as Beats Music service launches

THE music streaming scene is tuing into a dogfight. With new services launching from the likes of Dr Dre, the biggest players are battling out to reign supreme. Let the music wars begin.

When online music streaming service Spotify launched in 2008 it swiftly took the inteet by storm. It was on-demand music like we've never seen before. We could listen on our PCs, it was stacked with tracks and had the option for us to listen to downloaded playlists on our mobiles, without the need for being connected to the inteet. That's why it has amassed over 24 million users in 55 markets.

The rest of the industry has woken up and now we're seeing major launches from Dr Dre, Kim Dotcom and YouTube to make the online music scene start to really rock.

The biggest of those looking to muscle in on the action is from Dr Dre's Beats brand. Known for his headphones favoured by celebrities and sports stars, this week he launched Beats Music to the US and coming soon to Australia.

Beats Music service offers related tracks chosen by industry experts, not robotic algorithms. Source: Supplied

Available on mobile and web it works in a similar fashion to Spotify delivering on-demand tracks for a monthly subscription, however it is taking over the MOG platform (another streaming service widely regarded as having better music quality than Spotify) and has some intuitive workings that will create tailored playlists based on selections from industry experts. It'll also be able to make playlists based on where you are geographically and what mood you're in.

But Spotify is not to be outdone. In response to the Beats Music launch, it has swung a left hook back by removing all restrictions on its free streaming (before only a limited number of tracks could be listened to per day), which is something Beats doesn't offer, and has even announced it is looking into a feature that can select songs to match your heartbeat.

Spotify on mobile. A product that has been acclaimed around the world. Source: Supplied

But Spotify and Beats Music are not the only ones slugging it out. Notorious Mega Upload founder, Kim Dotcom, has also launched his own music service and enters the ring like a competitor in an audio royal rumble worthy of World Wrestling Entertainment standards.

His aptly named service, Baboom, while currently only having one album on it (his own) uses a model whereby artists can upload their music to the site for people to listen to for free, only paying when they feel a track warrants it. The idea is to give more money to artists rather than the record companies. But time will tell if this will succeed, however the option to upload super high quality music files is a real plus.

Kim Dotcom's Baboom music service. And his own album. Source: Supplied

Then, how can we forget the mighty Google and its YouTube music service wading towards the battle? Looking to launch this year, it also has millions of songs at its disposal but the added benefit of offering music videos too. It is rumoured to have no ads, offline syncing and the ability to play tracks in the background of other open apps.

While these on-demand giants wrangle for supremacy, there is also plenty of free, non-customisable music streaming offerings out there. The likes of Pandora and Rdio are just two of many radio-style services that provide continuous playlists generated based on a type of genre or certain track you like. They aren't as comprehensive as Spotify or Beats Music, but they are great options as a source of tunes.

It's an ocean of choice, but ultimately it's great for us consumers as the battle will bring competitive pricing and fancy new features that hope to outclass each other. Stay tuned for more.