Samsung hinted this day was coming, and, well, now it’s here. A new $4 per month paid tier has been introduced to the company’s Milk Music streaming radio service, which is built atop Slacker Radio and comes preinstalled on select Galaxy phones.
The new tier, which was introduced via a recent update and first spotted by Android Police, adds unlimited song skips, offline listening, and the option of killing Milk’s DJ banter. What it does not do is remove ads, because despite strong Samsung hints that it plans to introduce advertising to Milk Music, the service currently remains completely ad-free—even for listeners who refuse to plunk down cash.
But Samsung’s Milk Music availability is still extremely limited overall. As I said, it only works on a small handful of Galaxy handsets, and even then only if those phones are in the U.S. And with Samsung giving its Music Hub and other in-house stores the axe, you have to wonder about the future of this super-niche streaming services.
If you’re interested in radio-style music streaming, consider giving Slacker Radio proper a try instead. Milk is powered by Slacker, so the quality and quantity of songs and station choices will be similar, but Slacker is a much more established service with widespread device compatibility—and it too offers a $4 per month subscription with the same offline listening and unlimited song skips as Milk’s new premium tier.