Sony has cooperated with Spotify to launch the PlayStation Music streaming service in more than 40 countries. The service is available for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 and Sony’s smartphones and tablets. PlayStation Music will replace Music Unlimited, the service the company has been providing since 2010 before its partnership with Spotify.

Generally, PlayStation Music is Spotify redesigned for the TV screen and PlayStation consoles. The service will be available in a free, advertising-supported version or a premium subscription. Users will be able to sign up from their consoles and get a 30-day trial of the premium version.

The latest incarnation of Spotify on desktop and mobile devices is split between “Browse” and “Your Music”. “Browse” focuses on curated playlists, and “Your Music” – on users’ own playlists.

As for PlayStation Music, it will be able to run on the consoles in the background while you play games, providing pop-up controls allowing to skip tracks when required. You will also be able to use smartphone or tablet to control the music while playing.

Thus far, Spotify and Sony’s partnership is exclusive, but the companies cannot say how long that exclusivity lasts. In other words, Xbox One console users are still unaware of when (or whether) Spotify will be available for their device. On the other hand, subscribers to other music services like Deezer are also unsure whether those will be available on PlayStation consoles.

In addition, the companies didn’t announce any news for Sony’s PlayStation Vita handheld either. However, the industry observers believe that it would be surprising if the new streaming service does not cover that device too.

The previous music service was called Music Unlimited. It was launched 5 years ago in the United Kingdom and Ireland and then expanded to other countries. The service was operated by British digital music company Omnifone and accounted for over one million active users by January 2012. However, after then the figure never updated, so the service didn’t catch on with PlayStation owners.

At the same time, Microsoft is keeping silence about the growth of its Xbox Music service, which provokes questions about why there was no streaming music in the past, and whether new Sony’s offer can change that.