Music lovers can have access to more than six million songs with Sony's new cloud-based streaming music service, "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity." However the service is currently only available to users in the U.K. and Ireland.
Sony said the Music Unlimited library includes songs from all four major labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music. Throughout 2011, Sony will launch Music Unlimited in other countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the U.S.
In addition to devices like Sony's PlayStation 3, Internet-connected TVs, and Blu-ray players, Music Unlimited can be accessed via PCs and mobile devices. It is an expansion of "Video On Demand powered by Qriocity," another streaming service from Sony that was launched earlier this year.
"Seamless accessibility to content through these fresh user experiences will enrich Sony's network service offerings and add value to the unique aspects of Sony's network-enabled products," Kazuo Hirai, Sony's president of networked products and services group, said in a statement.
Music Unlimited features two subscription options: basic for four pounds a month and premium for 10 pounds a month. The basic service works similarly to streaming radio sites like Pandora or Slacker, except that Music Unlimited users can skip an unlimited number of tracks. There are pre-set stations organized by genre or era that users can personalize according to their tastes.
With the premium service, subscribers get a 30-day trial in which they can listen to every song in the catalog at will and make custom playlists. These users can also listen to a premium list of top 100 that include current hit songs.
Sony has not specified what the service would cost when it is launched in other countries.
Music Unlimited forms stations based on users' tastes, similar to the previously mentioned services. Sony said that this will get more specific and accurate the longer a user is listening. Subscribers can also integrate their iTunes files and other previously downloaded music to their Music Unlimited account to access their favorite tunes at any time.