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 ...
by
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, particul ...
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 ...
in
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:
Art ...
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 use ...
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 Group Corporation and is oper ...
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 ...
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 corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
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 b ...
where Thailand is the second largest Line messenger market share in the world after
Japan, 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,
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. (trade name, d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York C ...
,
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 northe ...
.
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.
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 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
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Xbox Music
Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued Audio player (software), audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music ...
,
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 in ...
etc., with the exception of
Music Unlimited
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 ...
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 PlayMemor ...
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
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 ...
on 28 January 2015. On 30 June 2015,
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
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 ...
worldwide, which makes it the third competitor in music streaming industry in Japan.
Availability

Line Music is currently available in
Japan,
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 b ...
and
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 northe ...
.
Reception
The reception for the Line Music was well received by the customers in both
Japan and
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 b ...
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.
See also
*
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 ...
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