Sony has announced its new co-venture with Spotify - dubbed PlayStation Music - is now available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles in 41 markets.
First announced earlier this year, the app will be automatically downloaded upon booting up your console. You won't need a premium Spotify account or PS Plus subscription in order to use it so, as long as you have a console, it'll be free. As with other versions of the service, opting to buy a premium account removes adverts and increases the quality of songs.
The interface has been designed in order to be visually-led, with an emphasis on serving those who will have music on in the background while chatting with friends. All the features from the desktop edition are present, including genre playlists and suggestions that are updated in real-time throughout the day. You will, of course, also be able to build your own playlists.
PlayStation Music also enables you to decide what music you want to play during your games. The soundtrack to the game will be replaced by the tune of your choice but, pretty impressively, dialogue and ambient sounds will still be played over your custom soundtrack. Additionally, holding down the PlayStation button on the DualShock 4 brings up a mini menu, which enables you to navigate your songs or change them without having to quit your game and relaunch Spotify.
The new service is fully integrated with the Spotify Connect app too. This enables you to decide what device your music is playing through using your smartphone. In a demo I was shown the PS4 being selected for music input, and tunes began playing immediately with no lag. Once the gaming session was done, another button press switched the audio output to the phone's headphone jack and we were free to go on our way still listening to the original playlist.
Plans are still afoot for the service to arrive on Xperia smartphones and tablets in the future, but no timeframe has been offered. What I saw was pretty impressive, but the best part of it all is with no need for a PS Plus or Spotify premium account, there's nothing to stop you trying it out later today and making up your own mind.
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