Sony has today announced a partnership that will bring popular music streaming service Spotify to its home consoles.
By way of the PlayStation blog, Sony Network Entertainment vice president Eric Lempel confirmed that the company will welcome Spotify to its PlayStation Network in 41 countries later this year.
Players will be able to enjoy access to Spotify’s library 30 million songs in and out of games, with premium and (ad-funded) free accounts both being supported.
Lempel said: “We know how important music is to our community of gamers, and this partnership combines the best in music with the best in gaming.”
In a press release, Spotify CEO and founder, Daniel Ek, said: “We are incredibly honored to partner with Sony and PlayStation to give gamers around the world an amazing experience wherever they listen to music.
“As a gamer and PlayStation 4 user myself, I’m super excited to be able to soundtrack my FIFA 15 Arsenal matches later this spring.”
The service will launch initially on PS4, PS3 and Sony Xperia smartphones; a Vita release is expected to follow.
Meanwhile, Lempel announced that Sony’s existing music subscription service, Music Unlimited, will be shut down on March 29, 2015.
The move comes as Sony attempts to reposition the PlayStation Network as “the premium entertainment service brand”, with Video Unlimited becoming PlayStation Video, and its music hub – which used to encompass Music Unlimited – becoming PlayStation Music.
Are you excited for the launch of Spotify on PS4 and PS3? What do you make of Sony’s latest attempts to grab a foothold in the home entertainment market? Let us know in the comments.
