Sony has announced a new music service called PlayStation Music, which will be delivered to users in conjunction with Spotify. The deal, which sees Spotify as an exclusive partner, aims to bring digital music across all Sony’s platforms including the PlayStation 4 console. Along with news of the new service, Sony also announced that it would be ending its Music Unlimited streaming service, in favour of the new arrangement with the leading Swedish music streaming provider.
In an announcement on the PlayStation Blog and reported in various other related media outlets, Eric Limpel, VP at Sony Network Entertainment, had this to say about the partnership: “We know how important music is to our community of gamers, and this partnership combines the best in music with the best in gaming.” Users of the PlayStation Network service will be able to link their profile to their Spotify account or subscribe to the premium service through a convenient sign-up process that uses your existing ID and PSN wallet.
With more than 30 million songs and 1.5 billion playlists available on the streaming service, PlayStation 4 gamers will also be able to use their Spotify accounts while playing games, meaning gamers will now have complete control over the soundtrack to their gaming sessions. Users of the new PlayStation Music service will have access to all their Spotify playlists as well as the ability to listen to playlists curated by Spotify or by other users.
Although a date has not been announced for when the service will become available, Sony revealed that PlayStation Music will first launch on PS4 and PS3 to begin with, as well as Xperia Smartphones and tablets. However, before the new service is launched, Sony will be axing the Music Unlimited service in all the 19 countries it is available on the 29th of March 2015.
As a sweetener to soften the blow to current Music Unlimited users, Sony will not be charging them anything to use the service from the 28th of February through to the 29th of March 2015. All users with an active subscription will enjoy free access during the services’ last month in operation.
PlayStation Music Unlimited originally launched in 2010, and had over one million registered users according to figures in 2012. Neither of the two companies have said how much a Spotify subscription through PlayStation Music will cost or whether Sony will be subsidising part of the £9.99 monthly price..
PlayStation Music featuring Spotify will initially be available in 41 countries at launch, including the UK, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy.
We eagerly await more information on this, and we will keep you updated once we know more. In the mean time, let us know what you think of the new partnership between Sony and Spotify in the comments section below!. Are you looking forward to using PlayStation Music featuring Spotify? You can sign up here for updates on the new service.
