Line Music (stylized as LINE MUSIC) is a

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

-based

music streaming service A music streaming service is a type of streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to stream d ...

Line Corporation Line Corporation is a Tokyo-based subsidiary of Z Holdings, which is jointly owned by Softbank Group and Naver Corporation. The company's business is mainly associated with the development of mobile applications and Internet services, particular ...

that combines existing Line Messenger app with the entertainment system that users not only can stream the music on-demand, but users can share the music directly to Line messenger. The chairman for the Line Music division is Lim-Suk Jun. The Line Music app is an alternative version of

Naver VIBE Naver VIBE (Hangul:네이버 바이브) is a music streaming service developed by Naver Corporation. The service was operated alongside Naver's other music service, Naver Music, until the service ended on November 1, 2020 and merged with VIBE. N ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

History

Announcement

In December 2014, Line Corporation reveals their plan to expanding their Line product range beyond their messaging service

Line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

to provide a one-stop entertainment portal where users can use Line services to consume media, in which these plan has been made in October 2014. This expansion has been announced during the Line annual event, on the same time the company also announces the introduction of online

Manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

service and also new game ventures, with investment of music streaming division worth ¥480 million. Line Corporation, in the early stage, has signed the deals with

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

and

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

to allows their works to be streamed in their services once the service has been launched. Following the announcement on the same month, Line Corporation acquired

MixRadio MixRadio was an online music streaming service owned by Line Corporation. The service was first introduced by Nokia in 2011 as ''Nokia Music'' for Windows Phone, serving as a successor to Nokia's previous Nokia Music Store/Comes with Music/Ovi M ...

from

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

in order to make its expansion to music industry globally. Line Corporation, however stated that the MixRadio will continue to operate separately from parent company.

Launch in Thailand

Line Music was initially launched in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

where Thailand is the second largest Line messenger market share in the world after

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, with 33 million registered users using this service, compared to the Japanese market with 58 million registered users. Line has signed deals with major labels in Thailand such as

RS Music RS Public Company Limited ( th, บริษัท อาร์เอส จำกัด (มหาชน)) the pioneer and has been the inspiration of Thai entertainment culture since 1982. Today, RS GROUP is categorized in the commerce sector i ...

BEC-TERO Tero Entertainment Public Co. Ltd., formerly known as BEC-Tero, is a mass media and entertainment company in Thailand. It organizes and promotes concerts, owns record labels and produces films and television shows. BEC-Tero was formed on March 27, ...

, SpicyDisc and What The Duck to allow their works to be streamed in this service. On 25 August 2016, Line Thailand announced their intention to shut down and move to

Line TV Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

on 1 October 2016.

Expansion to Japan

On 11 June 2015, Line Corporation launched the Line Music in Japan, with new deals with major labels has been signed such as

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and King Records.

Expansion to Taiwan

On 10 July 2019, Line Corporation started to provide Line Music service in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Features

Catalogue

At the launch, Line currently has 1.5 million licensed tracks from 30 music labels and publishers worldwide. But the company will expand their catalogue to 30 million licensed tracks by 2016.

Integration with Line messenger

One of the main features of the Line Music is the integration with the Line Messenger where users can send the music track or playlists to friends or chat group in Line Messenger. In addition, users can stream the music simultaneously with the person the user is chatting with in order to hear the music at the same time. A user without a Line Music subscription can preview the music for up to 30 seconds only.

Promotion

On 11 July 2015, Line Corporation air its first

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

about Line Music in Japan. In this video, a girl is dancing and singing at home while listening to Carly Rae Jepsen's latest single,

I Really Like You "I Really Like You" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen for her third studio album, ''Emotion'' (2015). It was written by Jepsen, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Peter Svensson, and Steve DaMar; and produced by Svensson. The song was r ...

Competition

Before the launch of the Line Music in Thailand,

Deezer Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in i ...

Rdio Rdio (pronounced "r-dee-oh") was an online music streaming service that offered ad-supported free streaming and ad-free subscription streaming services in 85 countries. It was available as a website and via app for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and ...

and

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

were the only competitors in the Thai music streaming market, at the time where other major services such as

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

are still absent in Thai market. However, unlike in Thailand, Japan did not have any major streaming services launched in their country such as

Xbox Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Groov ...

Pandora Radio Pandora is a subscription-based music streaming service owned by Sirius XM Holdings based in Oakland, California, United States. The service carries a focus on recommendations based on the "Music Genome Project" — a means of classifying indiv ...

etc., with the exception of Music Unlimited by

Sony Entertainment Network Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) was a digital media delivery service operated by Sony. SEN provided access to services, including PlayStation Network for games, Video Unlimited for film and television, Music Unlimited for music, and PlayMemo ...

prior to the launch of Line Music. However the pricing for the monthly subscription of Music Unlimited was high at ¥1,480 due to Sony's monopolistic practices and also their decision to withhold their catalogues from

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

until end of 2012. However, after the closure of the Music Unlimited and with the Sony's announcement to replace its service with PlayStation Music which is powered by

on 28 January 2015. On 30 June 2015,

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

launched

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

worldwide, which makes it the third competitor in music streaming industry in Japan.

Availability

Line Music is currently available in

and

Reception

The reception for the Line Music was well received by the customers in both

and

with 6.2 million downloads within the first months of availability.

Accounts and subscriptions

Line Music provides different types of accounts, vary by countries. Currently, Line Music provide free-tier account in Taiwan.

References

External links

Official website
{{Music streaming services 2015 software Music streaming services Android (operating system) software Online music stores of Japan Jukebox-style media players Naver Corporation IOS software 2015 establishments in Japan 2015 establishments in Thailand 2016 disestablishments in Thailand 2019 establishments in Taiwan