RIP Music Unlimited
Remember when Sony brought the joyous news that their failed Music Unlimited service was about disappear from the face of the earth? It was around that time they revealed they would be partnering with Spotify to bring their streaming service to the Playstation 4.
Today, Spotify officially went live for those who have an account and it’s exclusive to Playstation, so XBOX ONE fanboys are excluded in this deal.
Upon downloading and launching the app, it will ask you for a way to sign in. Even if you don’t have a premium account, you can still get limited access, whether it is through Facebook, your own login or through connect, which sends your credentials to the service via phone or tablet. The last choice is rather seamless and extremely easy. All you have to do is be on the same network, head to settings and find the device.
Once you’re in the matrix, you’ll see two options: Browse and Your Music.
Depending on which you pick, you can go through New Releases, your own playlists or mixes that Spotify has pre-curated (Top Hits, mood playlists, etc.) like on the regular app.
The interface mirrors that of what you see on the regular Playstation 4, but unfortunately, that means you can’t browse through artists or albums like you would regularly, so there’s still room to grow. Luckily, the songs play in the background no matter what you’re doing. We rocked it during FIFA 15 earlier and it played flawlessly throughout the game and in-game menu. Of course, if you have music on in the settings, you’re going to have to turn that off so they don’t overlap on each other, but besides that, you’re good to go.
If you’re that bummed out about not being able to find albums or artists easily, you can always use the phone or tablet you used to connect the account to and search there to make it play on the PS4. It’s an inconvenient extra step but it works.
Overall, the app works like it should, with buttons on the controller working as pause, play, next track and the such as well as a vast catalog of music at your fingertips.
Happy trails to Music Unlimited. We won’t miss you.