LINE corporation, popular for its messaging service has launched LINE Music in Japan. It has a catalog of over 1.5 million tracks from top labels including Sony, Universal, and Japan’s Avex. It plans to expand the catalog to 5 million tracks by the end of 2015 and 30 million by 2016. Line messenger users can also send tracks and playlists to their contacts.
Japan doesn’t have any popular global music streaming services like Spotify or Rdio. Apple might launch its Apple Music service in Japan, but it is not clear if it will be one among the 100 countries where it will launch on June 30th. LINE Music could attract more users before that.
LINE Music is available for Android and iPhone. The service will be available for free for the first two months, after that it will cost 1,000 yen (US $8 approx.) for a month subscription and 500 yen ($4 approx.) for 20 hours of streaming. It will be available for desktop soon, says the company. The service was launched as a trail in Thailand last month.