In anticipation of Epic Records‘ May 13 release of Xscape – a posthumous compilation of previously unreleased Michael Jackson songs – Sony announced today via blog post that its music-streaming service Music Unlimited will stream one new song from the album each day from May 5 to May 9, giving subscribers a chance to preview five of the songs before the album’s official release. Sony will also be revealing exclusive artwork along the way. Today’s announcement also included details on new functionality updates to the PlayStation 4 Music Unlimited app.
Sony’s Music Unlimited service comes in two subscription packages: the $5/month “Access” and the $10/month “Premium.”
The Access plan gets you, well, access to the services library of over 18 million songs, but you’ll only be able to use the service on PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles and Internet-connected PCs and Macs… no mobile. Double up for Premium and you get a plethora of other device options: PlayStation Vita, Xperia phones, Sony tablets, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Bravia TVs and Sony Blu-ray players, among other Sony home theater and audio devices. And, perhaps most importantly, Premium offers an offline mode for listening to music (on selected devices) without an Internet connection. Sony also offers a free trial for those who haven’t been swayed to drop the dollars but may still be interested in giving it a try.
The new app udates announced for the PS4 Music Unlimited app include a new “PS Share button” – gamers can now share the music they’re listening to via the service across Facebook and Twitter by simply pressing the new button. Secondly, Sony introduces integrated curated playlists: the music-streaming service has an in-house team of music experts and guest artists/celebrities who handpick tunes across genres to bring users the latest music in the form of unique playlists. And last but not least, Sony has allegedly made the PS4 version of the service “faster than ever” through a few “backend updates.”
Whether you need another music service or not, big MJ fans who want to be the first ears on the unreleased tunes may find it worth signing up for a month. At least, that’s what Sony is hoping.
