Ben-DutkaTime for a new way to listen to music on your PlayStation console.
Today, Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (SNEI) has announced a global strategic partnership with Spotify that will deliver "best-in-class digital music" to the PlayStation Network and its 64 million active users.
The partnership will allow Sony to launch a new music destination this Spring; it's called PlayStation Music and it'll roll out in 41 markets. You'll first see it on PlayStation consoles and then, like several other services, it will make its way to smartphones and tablets. Said SCEI President and Group CEO Andrew House:
"Music is a core component of the entertainment offering that consumers expect from Sony, and our goal with PlayStation Music is to provide the most compelling music experiences to the millions of PlayStation Network users around the world. This partnership represents the best in music and the best in gaming coming together, which will benefit the vibrant and passionate communities of both Spotify and PlayStation Network. We're thrilled to make Spotify the foundation of our strategy with PlayStation Music."
PSN users will be able to link their accounts to Spotify, making it easy to subscribe to Spotify's Premium service via the PlayStation Network wallet. The service will ultimately offer over 30 million songs and 1.5 billion playlists on PS4 and PS3, as well as Xperia smartphones and tablets. Users can create a music collection and listen to playlists and PS4 owners will actually be able to take advantage of Spotify while playing games.
If you're wondering, this new initiative will replace the current Music Unlimited service. The latter will close in all 19 countries on March 29, 2015 but hopefully, Spotify will arrive shortly thereafter.
Spotify is awesome. The selection is great, including obscure stuff from videogame soundtracks. The streaming quality can be set from lower quality up to 320kbps, whatever your preference.
Even the free service is awesome. It doesn't let you listen to a particular song, but you can listen to any album in shuffle, or listen to mood based playlists that are diverse and is a good way to explore new music.
I'm sure most who try the free service will want to go for the premium. Heck the premium has a free 30 day trial. The premium service lets you download your songs (so no internet connection required for playback). It also lets your specify whatever song you want to listen to etc, including your own playlist creation.
Students can get the premium service for just $5 a month. Well worth it.
I don't think I can go back to the old way of doing music now.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/28/2015 11:37:07 AM
"PS4 users will actually be able to take advantage of spotify while playing games."
Finally! I've been using spotify for over 3 years now. I've accumulated a wealth of music over the years and hope my songs transfer over. I wonder if viewers will be able to hear whatever you are listening to while broadcasting?
Nope. No way.
Wise move and great news for Spotify users, I'm one of them.
Spotify is far from perfect but their catalogue is really beginning to become quite substantial also for the smaller genres.
Good move, Music Unlimited was an awful idea, Spotify has taken the throne of that racket so my aswell make the most of it. I hope thats the end of it though, I'm seriously getting angry in hearing of these video-demand streaming services – which now even have exclusives series… utter joke.
No.
I have music unlimited, and it's wonderful.
It's just a saturated market. Music streaming, I mean.
$15 a month for a severely subpar music service is wonderful?
It drove me nuts that Music Unlimited's downloads were gimped at a ridiculous 48kbps (down from 320kbps)
Not sure if that ever improved but it was hideously bad. And at the time downloading before I went somewhere was important to me.
$15?!?! never. lol It hasn't cost me $15 a month. Actually, most of the time I've had it, I had a few months free and a full year for $10. Recently, the last 6+ months or so, it's been $9.99.
And yeah, for the number of albums I add to the list every month, it's worth it. And I can access it anywhere through phone, computer at work, my car, playstation, my blu-ray player in the living room near the kitchen… even in the bathroom where I built in speakers in the ceiling. Plus, you can look up random things for friends when they're with you or I can look up kids stuff when our fam. is going camping or something.
Totally worth it.
Subpar? I don't know if it would be subpar for some people maybe if you like a really niche kind of music that maybe doesn't get updated immediately? Not sure. But I've been able to get what I want pretty quickly.
@Temjin
I had an offline playlist in case something happened, but where I live, I get good coverage wherever I go. And I never end up going over my data usage either. So I can't say it factored into my experience, I guess.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 1/29/2015 9:01:54 AM
I've been using Music Unlimited for quite sometime now, in my PS3, PSV, PS4, Xperia tablet and phone.
I created some playlists and now I'm gonna lost them. Not funny.
I recently got a premium spotify suscription as a bonus with my cell phone company and I'm far from liking the service.
Anyday I stil prefer MU over Spotify.
Me too. Spotify is garbage.
I hope they at least provide a way to transfer playlists…
you guys must be operating on outdated experiences. Not only do I think Spotify is better but pretty much every critic evaluating the matter agrees. Spotify is king.
…some people are impossible to please though. I understand that.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/28/2015 3:20:51 PM
I was very pleasead with MU.
IMO it's way easier to navigate and find the music I wanted.
I don't think my Spotify experience is outdated, I only joined a copule of weeks ago.
So maybe I need some time using it to discover everyhthing it offers, but right now, I know i think MU is better.
You think something, I think something different. Because of this, the world is awesome.
I was basically just responding to Underdog. MU was cool when I first tried it. I wouldn't trash on it and call it garbage when it's not.
I'm just saying that I've seen a number of objective reviews that broke down the features and benefits of many services and Spotify always took #1. Heck I've seen MU rank pretty low in some of those comparisons too. I've tried them both and Spotify gets my vote.
And so basically calling Spotify garbage is just way out in left field.
Sorry to have offended you, Temjin.
But I did not enjoy, appreciate, or find value I want to pay for in Spotify. One man's trash, another man's treasure, apparently.
Maybe I would like it now. Maybe I'd have to.
Some people don't understand different people have different tastes and streaming habits. Some just can't see past their own absolute mindset. I understand that.
Spotify is far from perfect. You can't possibly think everyone likes it the way you do.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 1/29/2015 9:10:07 AM
For example, Spotify is not on all my devices. I cannot access it on any of my tv's or on my receivers. I would either need new receivers, or I will have to rely on my phone. The problem with that is now I can't use my phone for business or anything else and allow my music to play for other people at home who may be enjoying it. (I don't live on my own) The other option is to purchase new hardware that will stream it. I don't see why I should need to do that. I didn't have to with MU.
I'm not worried about at work or by phone, obviously. But the other pieces do present an annoying, albeit not impossible, challenge. And that kind of "at-home" listening accounts for a significant portion.
I also have a Sony phone (experia m2… awesome phone in every way -except- for the crappy camera) and it was really nice having MU tie directly into it's player. Perhaps Spotify will too with the partnership, hopefully. I know that's just a perk more than a service, but still, collectively, everything together mattered. What your "objective" reviews evaluate is the service that is provided. And perhaps the service itself is decent now. But ease of access to service is just as important, and even if the service itself is weaker than Spotify, it's completely irrelevant to me since it still does everything I want -AND- it's completely, 100% accessible in every possible way.
As is, Spotify simply isn't accessible in every way I want it to be accessible. MU is. And to me, if I have 2 services to choose from, and only one can do everything I want it to do, and the other can only do a fraction of what I want, then it's garbage to me. I'm sorry if that annoys you to the point of passive-aggression.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 1/29/2015 9:34:04 AM
Now, will you need a Facebook account? I tried signing up a few years ago and needed a Facebook account.
I don't like anything associated with Facebook or any social networking site including LinkedIn.
You don't need one. You can choose to use your Facebook login if you'd like but the traditional way is still an option.
I agree. It's annoying. Even the TLoU Left Behind tries multiple times for Facebook info.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/28/2015 3:44:30 PM
^-^
Music Unlimited was a decent music service but they wanted way too much money to use it.
I like Pandora, myself.
Pandora needs to up their pool of songs though.
Other than Youtube, I don't use any other service PS provides though.
For music streaming I only use Soundcloud on my phone.
well thats cool atleast theres another way to get music onto the ps3 or ps4 and playing music in the back ground doesn't mean the music the game companies make is bad it just means we want to listen to our own music is all bu thats all good spotify certaily helps the cause
happy gaming
Hope all of my MU playlists and Library songs are seamlessly transferred to this new service.
Also "Xperia smartphones and tablets" do they mean those specific devices or Android phones. It almost sounds like it's a specific PlayStation Music app with music streaming provided by Spotify.
As an active Music Unlimited subscriber, I rather hate the fact that this is happening.
I mean, I see no reason for doing this. I don't use Spotify, as I've been using Rdio for years. I have no intentions of moving over to an inferior service.
However, if Sony can keep the $5 / month subscription price, I'll definitely sign up. Right now, Spotify is $10, which is simply too damn expensive for what's being offered.
As far as what will then be available, definitely a good thing. Alas… I am ever more inclined to actually purchase music as opposed to paying for a subscription.