Joox - Music Streaming Service in Thailand Review

Just before Christmas I felt bored listening to the same songs that have been on my phone for years. I wanted something new. I had heard of Joox, the music streaming service in Thailand before and decided to give it a go.

A quick download from the Play store (You can also get it on IOS) and I was streaming music within a couple of minutes.

How Does it Work?

From the app you have the ability to either stream a wide range of music and radio stations or download songs. The App will also recognize your stored music so you can make playlists of Joox songs and pre-loaded music.

There are two versions, a free and paid for VIP service. I’ll highlight the differences between the two as we go through this article.

On the free version you will here the occasional advert. These adverts are usually in Thai and can be skipped after a few seconds, much like a YouTube video. Others you must listen to for around 30 seconds.

If you want to download music and listen to it whilst offline advert free you need to subscribe to their VIP service.

What is the Cost?

The VIP service means a wider range of songs (the free service has over 3.5 million). It also means that songs you have downloaded can be listened to whilst you are offline. For example if you are on a flight you will need a VIP service to listen to all your songs on Joox. The major benefit is that there are no adverts.

The cost varies and can be paid for weekly or monthly.

Monthly fees start at 89 Baht

Weekly fees are 49 Baht

There are also special promotions such as buy 6 months get 6 months free but these only occasionally come up. Outside of this there are special offers from Thai mobile providers.

Payment can either be made via the Play Store or IOS App store or via your Thai mobile provider.

Free Trial and Special Offers

The good news is that most people get a free month’s trial with the VIP service. It gives you a chance to look through risk free. I signed up straight away afterwards for the monthly subscription via AIS, my Thai mobile provider.

There are also special offers as mentioned before. I got an SMS from AIS offering Joox for 59 Baht a month on an auto-rolling monthly contract. If a better offer comes up I will cancel my VIP and transfer to the better promotion.

What Music do They Have?

My biggest worry was that I would get stuck with terrible music. The outcome was surprising. There are a huge variety of songs, different genres and different languages.

One of my reasons for trying the App was that I wanted to try listening to Thai music as well as English language songs. There is a wide range of songs including older music and bands that are quite obscure. There are quite a large number of K-pop and J-pop artists too.

I wont list everything here but in terms of the music I like I have found 99% of what I want. I’d recommend just downloading the app and have a search yourself. you can search by artist, song, album or one of the playlists Joox have made.

There are also Karaoke versions of songs for those who are interested in that kind of thing.

Another bonus is they also have music videos which is an interesting feature.

Usability

The App is available in English and Thai. It is really simple to use.

One of the key plus points is that you can control the songs from the lock screen of your phone. You can lock your phone and the music continues, unlike YouTube.

You can create your own playlists or download ones already made by Joox.

The search system works well. As I said you can search by artist, album, song or playlist. You then get the option to download individual songs, an album or every song by that artist. All downloads are done when you are connected via WiFi.

A lot of songs also have lyrics which Is something some people like to see.

Any Problems?

The only downside that I have seen so far is when using shuffle to randomize your songs you can’t go back and repeat a song you just heard. Pressing back on the keypad will take you to another random song, not the one you just listened to.