August 20, 2013August 20, 2013

Music Unlimited Gets Amplified on PS4

During E3, we mentioned that the Music Unlimited service would be available for PlayStation 4 at launch and today during Gamescom we revealed some great features we think you’ll love.

The new Music Unlimited streaming service features a completely redesigned user interface that was specifically enhanced for PS4. It is faster, simple to use, and enables gamers to easily discover new artists and songs from the Music Unlimited global library of over 22 million songs.

Additionally, we added new features that many PlayStation gamers have requested. You will now be able to listen to music in the background while playing games and access Music Unlimited controls on the fly without completely exiting game play or other apps. Simply press and hold the “PS” button on the DUALSHOCK 4 to access a pop up menu that will enable you to quickly pause or skip tracks, and adjust the volume.

Look for the Music Unlimited app when PS4 launches on November 15. Meanwhile, if you aren’t a subscriber, don’t miss the special Premium annual subscription offer available today for PlayStation Plus members and others. Music Unlimited Premium subscribers get full access to every feature of the cloud-based music service and entire catalog of more than 22 million songs that can be streamed across multiple devices, including PS4 (at launch!), PS3, PS Vita, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod, Android smartphones and tablets, and more.

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38 Comments

Talesgirl016
August 20, 2013 at 12:16 pm PDT

Wow, the new music unlimited sounds amazing :)
WrekGar
August 20, 2013 at 12:21 pm PDT

I can’t wait.. I listen to Music Unlimited while I play my games on the PS Vita now to be able to do it on PS4 is something I been asking for. THANK YOU!
KazeEternal
August 20, 2013 at 12:28 pm PDT

In Game Music Unlimited?
SCoopat
August 20, 2013 at 12:30 pm PDT

a Spotify app on PS4 would be great too !
PiperVsPiper
August 20, 2013 at 12:35 pm PDT

This sounds interesting, but I’d prefer a Spotify app for PS4 too! Or at least a way to listen to my own catalog of music, without tying up hard-drive space on my PS4.
- Greg Belloni
  August 20, 2013 at 12:51 pm PDT
  
  Hi PiperVsPiper. With Music Unlimited, you can do just that! MU is a cloud-based music service from Sony — you have access to millions of songs, music channels and the ability to build your own playlists. New for PS4, you’ll be able to listen to your music in the background while you play games. Check out all the details on the service and sign up for a free 30 day trial here: http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/music-unlimited/why-music-unlimited/
Sonicfan11589
August 20, 2013 at 12:36 pm PDT

If we add music to PS4 that is from say iTunes, can we still use it to play while playing a game?
Greg Belloni
August 20, 2013 at 12:56 pm PDT

Hi Sonicfan — as noted above, Music Unlimited is Sony’s cloud music service that provides access to all the music you want — the global catalog has over 22 million songs and grows every day. There is no need to download songs or sync devices — you set up your library and you can access all of that music through the Music Unlimited app on PS4. Your library is shared across all of your compatible devices including PS4, PS3, PS Vita, PC/Mac, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Sony TVs and BD players so you have access to your music no matter where you are.
Enforcer_X
August 20, 2013 at 12:57 pm PDT

If I could upload my own music tracks retaining lossless FLAC or at the very least MP3 320Kbps I would pay and switch. As the “service” is now I find no value over Google Music.

This service is clearly not aimed at me currently, and that’s fine Google Music provides me what I want.

I hope the browser on the PS4 doesn’t suck so I can use Google Music on it.
- Greg Belloni
  August 20, 2013 at 1:16 pm PDT
  
  Hi Enforcer_X. While you can’t upload tracks to Music Unlimited, we do offer high Quality 320 kbps AAC playback. ..and… Music Unlimited is the only Music Service currently available for PS3 and will be in the U.S. on PS4, so it’s definitely aimed to you!
oo7PorscheMGS
August 20, 2013 at 1:06 pm PDT

Nice… very nice being able to listen to your own music / any music you want mixed in with the game you’re playing (mostly for online games and racing games for me).
SCoopat
August 20, 2013 at 1:14 pm PDT

I agree with Enforcer_X !!! FLAC support would be awesome!!!

and of course Spotify ( their catalog is better than MU )
- Greg Belloni
  August 20, 2013 at 1:21 pm PDT
  
  Hi SCoopat. Music Unlimited has a global catalog of over 22 million songs and grows everyday. Are there any particular artists missing from Music Unlimited that you’d like to see? Our catalog is equal to and surpasses many of the other streaming music services out there, so check it out!
nampad
August 20, 2013 at 1:15 pm PDT

Still need high quality mode on the Vita. Also the last Vita FW update deleted all my offline music :(

And why can’t I buy another yearly premium subscription at the sale price right now? Just because I have one? Don’t you want to keep me as a subscriber?
plaztiksyke
August 20, 2013 at 1:24 pm PDT

320kbps AAC is pretty awesome, and competitive with Spotify’s 320kbps Ogg. That being said, I expect more from Sony and even more from a “next-gen” music service: lossless audio.

If I have the bandwidth (and I do), I would expect preview streams to be 320kbps and the actual songs to see losslessly-compressed. The icing on the cake would be if some tracks were 24-bit lossless.

Sony led the way with fantastic audio formats in the past — I still have dozens of SACDs I listen to — and I would expect them to really innovate and get ahead of the competition. That’s not what I see with this announcement.

Big fan, but I gotta be honest :)
- Greg Belloni
  August 20, 2013 at 1:55 pm PDT
  
  Thanks — that is great feedback that I’ll take to the team. There are many huge audio geeks here and you can see that there is still a lot of focus — check out the Sony AR and ES speakers if you haven’t already: http://discover.store.sony.com/ES/ar-speakers/
Enforcer_X
August 20, 2013 at 1:35 pm PDT

@Greg Belloni
I like the sound of 320 Kbps AAC (didn’t know that before, thank you) but the deal breaker is not being able to have my entire collection in the cloud with offline access (syncing) when I need it. I have a lot of rare stuff just not available in the Music Unlimited library. I gave it a fair shot and while I love the UI and I’m a HUGE Sony fan in general I just couldn’t make the switch for my use cases.

It should be a Walkman/Discman service of the future were with those devices of the past you took your music with you making your own tapes and CD’s and MP3 or AAC CD’s. Let me have my whole collection uploaded regardless of if it’s in “the catalog” or not and bring in that special Music Unlimited recommendation sauce and just blow away anything else out there. Let me buy DRM free music and download lossless files, make it my one stop music shop/player/discovery engine.

I hope one day Music Unlimited can and will evolve into a service I will enjoy and come back to.

Thank you for taking the time to respond previously.
- Greg Belloni
  August 20, 2013 at 1:59 pm PDT
  
  Thanks for the response — more great feedback. Just out of curiosity, do you use an Xperia smartphone? Our new Walkman app actually lets you combine your personal MP3 collection and your Music Unlimited library and access it through the app. I know it’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s pretty nice.
  
  The great news is that Music Unlimited is managed and operated by people who love music, so you know we’re always trying to build the best experience. While we have to balance features and usability, just know that we’re always trying to bring the best possible to our customers.
Enforcer_X
August 20, 2013 at 1:38 pm PDT

@plaztiksyke
My thoughts as well!
BadFlounder
August 20, 2013 at 1:38 pm PDT

@plaztiksyke

The problem you face is that almost no one cares about lossless audio quality. I get that you appreciate it, and I do as well. But for most people, a huge majority in fact, it just doesn’t matter. 320kbps is fine and they can’t tell the difference or are using audio hardware that the quality difference wouldn’t matter on (TV speakers, laptop speakers, portable speakers, earbuds, etc.)
allblu
August 20, 2013 at 1:41 pm PDT

QQ: Does the pixel junk visualizer work with Music Unlimited?

Potential burn-in makes me not want to use it on ps3/4 & tv.
blakseed
August 20, 2013 at 1:50 pm PDT

@SCoopat

Spotify’s catalog is better then MU? I have to disagree with that. BTW, being able to play MU while in game on the PS4 is an awesome addition.
Enforcer_X
August 20, 2013 at 1:55 pm PDT

@BadFlounder
Unfortunately that is a sad reality, and makes it hard for people who really enjoy lossless music to find and consume it easily. Bandcamp has won me as a customer for making it easy and affordable. But if we don’t make our issues known they may not evolve into something we want to enjoy.
jayrabbit
August 20, 2013 at 2:45 pm PDT

Can I get lecrae on this?
Squiggle55
August 20, 2013 at 2:59 pm PDT

Music Unlimited more than anything needs this:
Every format needs improvements. The Vita app is the most complete. The iPhone app is by far the worst. Even the PS3 app needs improvements. Hopefully the PS4 addresses my issues. But mostly I listen to my iPhone app at work, so I need that fixed the most.

1)I need to be able to set any playlist I make to shuffle. Why would I want to listen to a playlist in the same order every time? I know the PS3 does not have this functionality.

2) I also want to be able to “like” any song, at any time. Even if I look it up. If I look up a song specifically on the iPhone app, I can’t “like” it. I can add it to a playlist, but there is no “like” button.

3)Please, Please, Please fix the “favorites” station when played from the iPhone app. This is the station that plays all of the songs you’ve “liked”. It works well on PS3 and Vita. It works horrendously on iPhone. It glitches and starts songs over. It plays the same song twice in a row. It plays 3 songs then it glitches and plays the same songs in the same order. This should be the most useful station for playing at work but it’s completely useless if it plays six songs and then plays the same six songs again.

(cont)
Squiggle55
August 20, 2013 at 3:03 pm PDT

4)The one thing that would guarantee my subscription for many years to come would be improving the functionality of the “radio stations”. I have set up many radio stations on Music Unlimited based on favorite artists. I have also spent several hours “liking” and “disliking” songs on said radio stations to try to help MU figure out what types of songs I want to hear. Music Unlimited’s algorithm for figuring out what listeners want to listen to is obscenely bad. Pandora takes into account songs you have liked, and other users who have liked the same song, and plays the music others with your taste have said they LIKE. Pandora literally always plays a good song. Music Unlimited seems to go out of its way to play the most absurd crap from bands I’ve never heard before. I can’t fathom why you wouldn’t weight the algorithm to play songs people have heard of first, and songs other people have said they like. And if I say I don’t like a song, maybe don’t play that song again.

Does Pandora have a patent on their superior algorithm? Would it be illegal to play songs that others with my taste have said they like? If Music Unlimited cannot legally improve their song-selecting algorithm I’d really like to know that.
SCoopat
August 20, 2013 at 3:06 pm PDT

@Greg Belloni

Here’s the bottom line: You ( Sony ) allow competitors onto the Playstation for videos ( VUDU, Netflix, Amazon ) so why not music??

Let the end user decide which service they want to use, and if MU is so good, like you say, then surely the free market will settle the score!
fuze9
August 20, 2013 at 3:06 pm PDT

Quick question regarding playing music during a game: what about your own mp3s, specifically podcasts? Any possibility for that ability or, even better, a PS4 podcast app that can sync your subscriptions with BeyondPod or similar RSS-based apps?
Kchow23
August 20, 2013 at 4:28 pm PDT

Could you guys add the functionality to upgrade a secondary account to a master account or at least drop the master account requirement that doesn’t allow me to use the free trial?
plaztiksyke
August 20, 2013 at 4:34 pm PDT

Actually, the “Walkman” app’s feature of combining local and remote libraries into one seamless one is a great idea. If the PS4 can read in the music libraries from my DLNA-enabled NAS, and play the MP3, 24-bit WAV, ALAC, FLAC, and M4A files in addition to lossless streams online…. then, wow. Right now, this biggest problem on PS3 is the spotty DLNA and codec support.

Leveraging/licensing Pandora’s content would be phenomenal, even as a one-time “seed” to complement the existing genre/beat/crowd matching algorithms that appear to be currently employed. I was a Pandora subscriber from a long, long ways back and discovered/bought dozens of albums and concert tickets through them. Their falling behind on audio quality, and the dilution of their recommendation engine with “wisdom of crowds”, are the primary reasons I cancelled my subscription long ago.

re: speakers, I have a 5.1 setup with Tetra speakers and a Velodyne sub. The speakers you mention don’t hold a candle ;)
deadendblues
August 20, 2013 at 7:11 pm PDT

Just got the year subscription can’t believe no Kay Kay and the weathered underground or crass
DJKick
August 20, 2013 at 11:37 pm PDT

I just got my inscription on MU because it was cheap enough (42$ since i am on ps plus), i would have never done it for 10$a month.
I have to admit that it has good features especially the 320k streaming.
However i am less than impressed by the catalog,it looks pretty weak in electronc and dance music which are my favorites.
There are a lot of nice cutting edge labels that are not represented and if you compare the MU catalog versus what is available on downloads(not free) on Beatport or Juno, it is lagging by far.
Labels like ostgut ton, innervisions, f com, underground resistance, Planet e, king street sounds are not well represented at all.
I’d like to see a way to browse through the catalog without the search, just to have the full catalog by alphabetical order. I’d also like to be able to search by genre.
The ios app needs improvement compared to the web app. Why not do the web app in html5?
You miss a lot of features of the web app like fast forward or rewind, you dont have a dedicated ipad app,…
Overall i think there are many ways to improve on a pretty solid base already and i hope to see some of the improvements this year to justify a renewal of the service next year!
Enforcer_X
August 21, 2013 at 1:37 am PDT

@Greg Belloni
I had the Xperia Play but moved to the Galaxy Nexus, currently considering the Xperia Z but no car dock that takes advantage of the pogo pins for charging and audio kind of makes that a deal breaker since I would obviously want to enjoy music in the car easily. I have used the Walkman App and I like how it integrates but you’re right it’s missing that one extra piece, the digital locker of my personal library streaming and sync-able for offline.

I mean Samsung has a car dock that does this and Google has a music service that does this, I see no reason Sony can’t bring it, if anything they are in the best position of both companies to bring the whole package. I want to use all Sony I really do I mean I bought a Sony 3.5mm cable to connect my Galaxy Nexus car dock to my car auxiliary input.
SCoopat
August 22, 2013 at 6:23 am PDT

Seems like Greg Belloni has left the building…..
CommandingTiger
August 22, 2013 at 8:00 pm PDT

Additionally, we added new features that many PlayStation gamers have requested. You will now be able to listen to music in the background while playing games and access Music Unlimited controls on the fly without completely exiting game play or other apps. Simply press and hold the “PS” button on the DUALSHOCK 4 to access a pop up menu that will enable you to quickly pause or skip tracks, and adjust the volume.

You can do this now with some PS3 games.
But I guess now it’ll be all games similar to the Vita.
ec0de
August 23, 2013 at 8:59 am PDT

Will I be able to play my own files irrespective of Music Unlimited, or is this the only way we will be able to listen to music in the background.
serversurfer
September 3, 2013 at 2:16 am PDT

Another request for being able to use our own music. Preferably via DLNA. Other services like Pandora and Spotify would be nice as well. MU is a nice service, but it’s a little pricey for me to justify personally, even with the current sale. As others have said, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be able to compete on even terms with other services.
Grindhead_Jim
September 17, 2013 at 8:42 am PDT

I stand strongly with the others that are asking for custom soundtrack support for our own music libraries over DLNA. I agree that using MU for this purpose is an excellent idea (and, frankly, I can see it as being extremely beneficial if I am at a friend’s house, etc.), but, I want the option to use the music collection and playlists that i have spent over 20 years cultivating.

Thank you for listening.