Sony’s Music Unlimited streaming music service has been available on Android devices and PCs for some time now, but iOS users have been left out — until now.
The electronics company will offer a free iPhone and iPad app for Music Unlimited at some point this quarter, Tim Schaaff, head of Sony Entertainment Network said today at a small CES media gathering.
Additionally, the iOS app will offer offline caching for subscribers to Sony’s service, allowing them to save playlists for listening when away from a network connection. Competing services like Spotify and Rdio already offer caching, and have also been available on iOS for some time.
When asked how the Music Unlimited app would differ from its competitors, Schaaf and Sony’s Michael Aragon said that the company is aiming to take advantage of its major retail and international presence. The company will also be targeting users who have yet to adopt a cloud music service, instead of directly targeting those using competitors.
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The Music Unlimited service now has over 1 million active users, Schaaf said. The company also recently struck a record deal with indie music site CDBaby, which brings the services total amount of global tracks to 15 million.
Given Sony’s increased media streaming presence on other platforms, it almost seems as if the days are numbered for traditional Walkman devices (the company also announced a new Android-based Walkman at CES). But when asked if the company has considered killing the Walkman, Schaaf said Sony would only do it “when people stop buying them.” There’s still a big market for media-only devices, Schaaf said.
