28 March, 2011
HTML5 Based Application to share, buy and discover new music everyday
Posted by Unknown | 28 March, 2011 | Category:
Application Software
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Ever since MySpace cut its staff the other week, we’ve been wondering what social network/music discovery service could possibly replace it should it totally collapse. Well, UK-based startup MFLOW probably won’t be that service, but it certainly is fun.
MFLOW, by its own description, is “Twitter meets iTunes,” in that it allows users to both share and buy music. In essence, it’s a music discovery service/social network.
Basically, you create an account on MFLOW (for free) and connect it to your Twitter, Facebook and Buzz accounts (or any combination of the three). You can then search for music within the service’s 5 million song database (which is also ad-free), and then “Flow” a track. Flowing a track basically means sharing it on the aforementioned social networks.
When it comes to music, I was able to find a lot of my favorite bands thanks to UK partnerships with Sony Music, EMI and Universal, along with most of the independent labels and big aggregators. According to CEO Oleg Fomenko, MFLOW is currently working on deals that will hike 5 million tracks up to 7 million.
The first 10 tracks you Flow can also be downloaded for free and can be listened to by other users — sans payment. The only catch is that you can’t listen to a Flow over and over again, preventing people from liberally reaping the benefits of the services without paying anything.
Speaking of payment, you can also buy tracks using partner bank HSBC, and if another user buys a track that you Flow, you get credit for future purchases (20% of the cost of the song your friend bought).
Perhaps the most useful aspect of the service is discovery — the site features a “People Wall” that you can use to explore other people’s Flows (which you can listen to in full). You can also follow people on the service to get their latest picks. The only annoying thing is that the service doesn’t pull friends from Facebook, Twitter and Buzz, which makes it hard to find people.
Currently, the service has no mobile apps, but it is accessible on any device that supports HTML5, which is pretty awesome, because it will work on the iPad. Also, much like Spotify, MFLOW isn’t fully available in the U.S. yet — you can still listen to Flows and download your 10 free tracks, but you can’t buy music. MFLOW, however, has plans to become fully available in the U.S. toward the end of 2011.
MFLOW launched in the UK back in December and currently has 80,000 users who have — to date — sent more than 700,000 “flows” and purchased more than a quarter of a million tracks.
Source: Mashable
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