Sony releases Music Unlimited for iOS

22 May 2012

The release of Music Unlimited for iOS devices could see Sony’s music streaming app top the charts for music streaming.

While there was much excitement elsewhere in the world for Spotify’s iPad app release, users in Ireland had little to celebrate as the service is still not available on these shores. However, all is not lost as alternative services like Deezer are committed to winning over the Irish market and, now, Sony’s music streaming app (which is available in Ireland) is expanding to iOS.

Music Unlimited has been available on Android and Sony devices like the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita for some time now, but now iPhone and iPad users can listen in, too.

Ad-free subscription model

So-called because users can stream as much music as their ears desire, Music Unlimited is a subscription service offering ad-free tunes and no skip limits.

There are two plans to choose from (priced in sterling even on the regional Irish site for some absurd reason): basic and premium. The basic plan (stg£3.99 a month) gives users access to the basic music channels, ordered by genre, era, etc; the ability to create customised channels based on favourite artists; the ability to import songs from their personal collection; and recommendations on new music to discover.

Premium users, of course, get a little bit extra for their stg£9.99 per month. Most importantly, they are afforded on-demand playback, so they can search for and play any song in the catalogue of more than 15m songs. They can also create playlists, browse premium channels curated to their tastes, browse the charts, listen to new releases added weekly, and add songs or albums from the catalogue to their personal collections for easy offline listening.

If none of that quite tempts you, you can always give the 30-day free trial a go and see what you think.

To use the service, you’ll need either a PlayStation Network or Qriocity account, but once this is set up you’ll be able to access the service on any enabled device.

The new iOS app is expected in the Irish App Store soon, so keep your ears peeled!

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com