HTC rumored to have bought MOG
HTC's Beats Audio unit may have bought music subscription service MOG, according to a rumor reported by Business Insider Monday. Insider writer Matt Rosoff based his report on a single source, but we have since also heard from a source that term sheets went …
Context & Ripple Effects
HTC spent early 2012 building a differentiation story around audio and software: reviewers got a first look at a non-final Sense 4.0 build positioned as a point of distinction among Android devices in January, and Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades for the Sensation line were slated to roll out by end of March. Against that backdrop, Matt Rosoff's single-source report at Business Insider — picked up the same day by The Verge, MobileSyrup, and SlashGear — claims term sheets went out for Beats Audio, HTC's audio-branding partner, to buy streaming service MOG.
The claim is still unconfirmed, but it lands squarely in a debate already running this year over whether subscription services like Spotify, MOG, and Rdio will kill or save the music industry. A handset maker's audio unit buying one of them would tie that access fight directly to the phone business.
First-order effects
- If the deal closes, MOG's subscription catalog moves under Beats Audio rather than HTC directly, giving the phone maker a owned streaming service instead of a licensed audio brand alone.
Second-order effects
- Rival Android vendors leaning on Sense-style software differentiation would face a competitor whose differentiation extends into content, pressuring Spotify and Rdio to seek their own strategic owners among hardware or platform companies.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points toward commoditized Android hardware consolidating around bundled software-and-content stacks, with device makers treating music services as components of the handset experience rather than standalone businesses.
The trend: Handset makers are moving from licensing audio identity toward owning content services outright as the way to differentiate commodity Android phones.