Sony to end Music Unlimited service, teams up with Spotify

The PlayStation area at last year's E3 convention in Los Angeles is shown. Sony plans to shut down its music streaming service and is partnering with Spotify to bring a new music service to PlayStation users.

Jan. 28, 2015 5:19 PM PT

Sony will shut down its Music Unlimited digital subscription service and debut a Spotify-powered music service to its 64 million PlayStation Network users, the company announced Wednesday.

Spotify and Sony are partnering to bring the new streaming service, dubbed PlayStation Music, to PlayStation gaming consoles and Sony’s Xperia line of mobile devices this spring. The company plans to roll out to 41 markets initially, including the United States, Britain and Hong Kong, it said.

In a Wednesday statement, Sony Network Entertainment said the $10-a-month Music Unlimited service, launched four years ago, would close in all 19 countries at the end of March.

Listeners with active subscriptions at the beginning of March will be allowed to listen free of charge through the end of the month, the company said. They will also be offered a trial subscription to Spotify Premium.

Service in Japan, where Spotify has yet to launch, has not been determined, Sony said.

“Music is the core component of the entertainment offering that consumers expect from Sony,” Andrew House, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to make Spotify the foundation of our strategy with PlayStation Music.”

Spotify, launched in 2008, has 15 million paying subscribers and 45 million active users on its free service.

For more breaking news, follow me @cmaiduc on Twitter.