14 DAY TRIAL // The crowded music streaming market just got even more crowded. Sony has announced that it will be launching a music streaming service for the web and many of its devices as well.
Sony Music Unlimited, as the new service will be called, will allow users to access millions of tracks from Sony devices but also over the web. The new product integrates with Sony's existing video-on-demand service Qriocity.
"'Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity' brings together the features cited as most important by music enthusiasts. With access to a huge library of songs through the cloud, users can discover new music through channels personalized to their tastes on multiple devices and without the requirement to manage digital music files," Sony said in a statement.
"The convenience resulting from this new consumer music experience will further enhance the value of music, thus creating new opportunities for the industry. Details of the service plan will be announced in the future," it added.
Qriocity will be available first in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. The video-on-demand portion of the service has already been available in the US since earlier this year.
For now, only movies and TV shows will be available through Qriocity, but music will be added later in the year. No pricing details have been announced.
It is not the first time Sony has tried its hand at an online music service, it launched Connect in 2004 in the US. Connect was a download service which proved unsuccessful and was dropped in 2007.
The video-on-demand and music streaming markets are going to become very, very disputed. Google is working on a video rental service with YouTube and a music streaming service as well.
Apple has just announced Apple TV, a video-on-demand service. Amazon is also expected to launch a video service to compete with Netflix the most established player in the market.