New Spotify-powered PlayStation Music launches

Sony has launched its new music service for PlayStation video game consoles. The previously announced PlayStation Music is a close collaboration between Sony and Spotify. Some of the features unique to this setup are background listening, so tunes can be playing while there’s a game running. It also supports Spotify Connect, the Wi-Fi speaker option.

It is available to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 owners who have at least a free account with Spotify. The inclusion of a non-subscription (freemium) element is a bit of a surprise, especially since the gaming console’s previous music platform, Music Unlimited, did not offer a free tier. PlayStation Music service replaces the now-shuttered Music Unlimited service that Sony had been offering on that hardware. The new music platform is expected to roll out to Sony Xperia phones and tablets soon.