Sony continues its running battle with Apple today, launching its online music streaming service in the US, Australia and New Zealand after launching in Europe and the UK in recent months.
Sony’s new Music Unlimited will house more than six million songs that subscribers can stream from an online music library stored in the cloud.
Apple’s iTunes service sells songs for around $2 and albums for between $15-$20 but subscribers to Music Unlimited will pay $4.99 a month for access to dozens of personalized channels and $12.99 a month for unlimited access to the Sony library.
Members will be able to create their own playlists and they will be able to sync a personal song library, gaining gain access to it from anywhere they have internet access on a Sony-compatible device.
“By combining real choice and convenience, a fully integrated entertainment experience and global reach Music Unlimited provides a compelling new way for fans to connect,” says Rob Wells, president of global digital business at Sony subsidiary Universal Music Groups.
The new strategy may pose a threat to Apple’s dominance of the online music market.
A major concern for Apple is that Sony has hinted that it may restrict its content from being released via iTunes, meaning fans of Sony artists will forced to use Music Unlimited to access their favorite music online.
Sony Computer Technology CEO Michael Ephraim said last month that “publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems”.
But Sony’s chief operating officer Shawn Layden attempted to hose down those concerns, telling Business Insider that “Sony Music … has no intention of withdrawing from iTunes, they’re one of our biggest partners in the digital domain”.
However there is clearly no love lost between the two companies.
Two weeks ago Apple blocked Sony’s application to have eBook apps on its iPhones and also thwarted Sony’s plans to have first-generation PlayStation games available on iPhone were also blocked.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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