Sad news for Samsung smartphone owners who are fans of the music service, Milk. The company is making moves to have the service removed from all supported Samsung devices come Sept. 22, 2016.
Samsung says all affected users who are still interested in Milk should switch over to Slacker, the music service that serves as the back-end for delivering music to Milk.
Slacker is a popular music streaming service that came to life back in 2006. The service is only available in the United States and Canada. Interested music lovers have the option to listen to tracks via the web, or from Slacker's apps for Android and iOS. There's also an app for Windows 10, but the reviews are below par.
As for Milk, Samsung's Pandora-like music streaming service first came to life in 2014. It came at an odd time, but that didn't matter seeing as the design was unique compared to most music streaming services available right now.
There were signs Milk wouldn't have lasted long. After a year of being available on the market, Samsung closed the app's video streaming service, then from there, the company quietly scurried the brand. For example, the Milk VR app was renamed "Samsung VR" back in June this year.
The end of Milk shouldn't come as much of a surprise to some. In July, Samsung decided to lay off several works from its Media Services Unit. According to Variety at the time, multiple execs were also removed from their positions as the purge swept through like a tornado.
At the moment, it's difficult to say if these cuts will affect anything else outside of Milk in the distant future.
What are the plans going forward?
According to Samsung in an official statement, the plan right now is to partner with third-party companies in a bid to provide the best music experience for Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners.
"We have made the strategic decision to invest in a partner model focused on seamlessly integrating the best music services available today into our family of Galaxy devices," says Samsung. "We believe that working with partners will accelerate innovation, enhance device sales and provide amazing new experiences for our customers."
Chances are, Galaxy fans could end up seeing several music streaming apps bundled in future smartphones that are integrated tightly with the underlying operating system. As long as the favorites are there, Samsung should have little problems getting its fans to forget Milk and move on to greener pastures.
