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January 24, 2011
Sony first rolled-out its 'Music Unlimited Powered by Qriocity' service in the UK and Ireland in December of 2010 and has now launched the service in the other 'Big Five' European territories (France, Germany, Spain and Italy). On board at launch are various independent labels in addition to the four major labels- EMI, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.
The music service- managed by UK-based Omnifone- offers music on a subscription in two tiers:
· The radio tier costs €3.99 per month and offers access to a radio service on the PC and across Sony's range of consumer electronics devices (PS3 and PSP game systems and selected Sony Bravia internet connected BD players and TVs.)
· Premium tier costs €9.99 and offers true on demand access to an expanded selection of 6 million songs, across the same range of devices.
The service is expected to eventually become available on additional Android and Sony portable devices, but no launch information has been given.
The music service expands the Qriocity service portfolio beyond the video on demand offer in the same EU territories launched in late 2010. However, where the VOD service delivers movies to the living-room devices, such as game consoles and connected TVs- proven drivers of video consumption, the music service is not yet available on portable devices, probably the key driver for the adoption of paid music services. This applies to both premium and radio tiers which compete with a range of services such as last.fm and Spotify. However, where the service comes into its own it that it is one of two modern subscription services to be licensed in Germany, which means that Sony may be able to capitalise on something of a first mover advantage in the territory if the iOS and Android applications can arrive before Spotify launches in the region.
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