Cloud-Based iTunes, Thy Name Is mSpot

Ever since Apple bought the music streaming service Lala, people have assumed some form of music streaming service was coming from the makers of the iPhone.  With Lala due to close at the end of this month, we still haven’t heard what Apple’s plans are, but at least one other company isn’t waiting around to find out and is forging ahead with its own cloud-based music streaming service.

Thus far mSpot has been concentrating on streaming movies via its mSpotMovies service, but now the company is branching out to help you play your music where and when you want.  The new service is currently in closed Beta, but you can still have a look at the site simply at mSpot.com, although without an invite you will just see an informational screen and a place to download the desktop app that will assist you with uploading your music.  We would love to tell you about sound quality and such, but the uploader is currently down as mSpot works on some technical issues.  Once it is working, you will be able to upload mp3, wav and non-DRM AAC files according to ZD Net.

Once you do get your music uploaded, you can create playlists just like you do in iTunes and then you can listen to them on any Web browser or via your Android phone so long as it is running 2.1.  (other phone platforms will be added later)  The system will also be to detect what sort of connection you have to the Internet and adjust the streaming accordingly so you will get the best sound quality possible.

You will start off with 2 GBs of free storage, and upgrades to 10 GBs for $2.99 and 20 GBs for $4.99 will be available.  The company is also exploring the possibilities of an unlimited plan.

Oddly the company does not see it self as a music locker or backup service, but more as a sync service that will allow you to enjoy your music anywhere.  To help quell the fears of the music industry, only one Mac or PC may access the account at any time, but up to three mobile devices can be connected at once.

We’ll be highly interested to see how well this works once these initial bugs are worked out, and we’ll bring you a full review as soon as possible.  What is intriguing is since you can switch your playlists out as you see fit, and you will eventually be able to access this from any mobile phone, the question of if you even need an MP3 player will become an interesting one.  I think a lot of it will depend on how fast you can upload the files and also how good the sound quality is.

Here’s a picture of the library screen, you can click on it for a larger view.  Sorry there’s no music in it yet, blame that on the uploader.