By Odeisel
As technology has advanced, music has gotten increasingly portable. From the stodgy old phonograph to agile turntables to the Walkman to CD Players, each wave increased the ease of taking the music with us. Then came the digital age and now we can take entire libraries with us wherever we need to go. Now it’s a question of limiting the devices we have to carry. Sony made it real hard for everyone when they came out with the PSP, by allowing us to take video games on the go with near home system quality. It was only a matter of time until those two experiences combined.
Earlier this week, at legendary Irving Plaza, Sony presented the QTM Music Unlimited live experience with Outkast’s Big Boi as the headline artist. He rocked a medley of the songs you know and love, backed by two huge video screens bumping his images and of course the obligatory hype for the Sony machine. The more you see Big Boi on stage with his new music, the more you get used to the idea that we probably aren’t going to get a real Outkast album ever again, but when he gets busy you almost don’t miss it. Almost.
It was just one stop on a nationwide tour to promote Sony latest idea to reduce productivity and give idle hands and idle ears something awesome to do. Now, with your PSP you will have access to over seven million songs as well as your personal uploaded music library. Here’s the rub: You can access them not only on a variety of Sony devices, including Sony’s 2010 and 2011 models of network-enabled BRAVIA TVs, Blu-Ray Disc players, Blu-Ray Disc Home Theatre systems, as well as PlayStation 3, VAIO laptops, and your PSP. That’s bringing the cloud to your earphones. You no longer would have to synch the devices.
Aside from the music you upload, you will have access to Qriocity, a system that peeps the songs you like and your listening history and comes up with suggestions that fit your previous listening patters. Sounds a bit creepy, but when you have ads that do the same thing with your browsing habits without your knowledge, isn’t it cool to be able to actually control the experience this time around? The system can be accessed via your existing Playstation Network account.
The whole Qriocity system looks interesting. They’ve got a lot of ground to gain on the iPod/iTunes hegemony, and there is a subscription fee that may or may not be a barrier to entry. What they have going for them is the captive audience already entrenched in PSP and PlayStation3, as well as the increasing consumption of music on television and non-traditional devices. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the marketplace. The cloud is no longer just for computing it seems, you can now pump to it while you zap invaders and rescue the princess.
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Looks like a great show! And the Q Music Unlimited service kicks ass. Definitely worth it for unlimited streaming anywhere: office, living room, on the go. It’s pretty efficient, and with 7 million+ songs is a great way to find new music (or old music that I forgot about).
Can’t wait until I can get Qriocity on my cell phone.