Sony's 'Music Unlimited' Service Headed to iPhone and iPod Touch - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Sony's 'Music Unlimited' Service Headed to iPhone and iPod Touch

by

VentureBeat reports that Sony will be bringing its "Music Unlimited" streaming service to the iPhone and iPod touch within the next three months, looking to make inroads into Apple's ecosystem that has been dominated on the music side by iTunes.

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 users to save their playlists for listening when away from a network connection.

Sony introduced its Music Unlimited service nearly a year ago and garnered some attention when a company executive suggested that Sony Music could pull its content from the iTunes Store if Music Unlimited proved successful, although another Sony executive disputed that notion soon after.

sony music unlimited ios
Sony's Music Unlimited app for iOS (Source: The Verge)

As a subscription service, Apple would take a 30% cut of a revenue from subscriptions generated through an iOS app from Sony. But Apple's scaled-back subscription rules that went into effect last year would allow Sony to still offer an app without having to share revenue with Apple as long as the app itself does not allow subscription signups and does not contain any external links to sign up for service outside of the app.

Top Rated Comments

185 months ago
Don't they realise that people wants to buy and download music? Isn't that the whole point of iTunes store? Go and watch Jobs's keynote on youtube.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
185 months ago
How does this stack up against Pandora and Spotify?

Really its 2 different services. Pandora is like radio you pick a station. Spotify/Sony music you pick any song you want
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ivan P Avatar
186 months ago
whats up with the giant CARRIER at the top left? its an iPod touch.

It's called a mock-up.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
185 months ago
I'm happing with buying the music I really like, listening to radio in car, and listening to Pandora at home. I don't see a need for Spotify or Sony for myself.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
*LTD* Avatar
186 months ago
I welcome competition. I don't rent my music, but it's nice to have the choice. Also drives prices down. Competition is good. Waiting for Google Music to appear.

Bryan
The "competition is good" mantra, even repeated ad infinitum, carries little to no meaning when the competition just isn't viable.

All this sort of competition achieves is waste and redundancy.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
I don't get it. All these minor also-ran music services - how many subscribers can they possibly have? Who's using them?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Sunday March 29, 2026 8:18 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said. Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
Apple Apps Grid

Apple Releasing Two New iPhone Apps This Year

Saturday March 28, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release two new iPhone apps this year, including an Apple Business app and a Siri app with chatbot-like functionality. With the Apple Business app, employees at businesses using the new Apple Business platform will be able to install apps for work, view contact information for colleagues, and request support. Apple Business is launching on April 14, and it replaces Apple ...