Sony & Spotify Ink Music Deal

Sony and Spotify have inked a deal that will replace Sony’s beleaguered Unlimited Music service with Spotify’s free and premium offerings.

The streaming service will form part of Sony’s new music platform PlayStation Music, and allow PS4 users to not only access their Spotify playlists and stream music directly through their console, but also, reportedly, have the ability to replace the music you hear during gameplay. The service is also due to arrive on Sony’s PS3 legacy gaming platform, and Xperia smartphones and tablets.
spotify-sony-sitting-in-a-tree Kiss says ING
Sony has previously said that PlayStation Music will be available in 41 markets at launch, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, rather than the 19 available with Music Unlimited, and offers better tools for playlists and music discovery. Sony’s has officially shuttered Music Unlimited as of yesterday.

PlayStation users have long been able to watch DVDs and stream Netflix, Amazon and YouTube shows with the console. Sony recently launched an online television service, PlayStation Vue, offering more than 50 over-the-air and cable channels starting at $50 a month.

Spotify has 60 million active users worldwide, including 15 million paid subscribers. Its music app is available on some Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes, but Spotify says it worked closely with Sony to optimize its service for the PlayStation. Notable features include: the ability to listen to music while playing a game and still listening to sound effects, or automatically pausing the game while changing volume or playlists.

The service is free with ads, or costs $10 a month for a premium ad-free version that offers offline playback. Although free users aren’t allowed to choose specific songs on mobile devices, they will be able to on the PlayStation, just as they now do on traditional computers.

Customers who do not already have a Spotify account can sign up on the PlayStation. Existing Spotify customers will get access to the PlayStation app with their usual sign-in. Music Unlimited subscribers won’t be automatically switched over; those that subscribe on other devices such as Sony phones, will need to get the Spotify app.

Author: FutureMusic

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