Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) was a

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

delivery service operated by Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI). SEN provided access to services, including

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

for games, Video Unlimited for film and television, Music Unlimited for music, and PlayMemories for photographs and videos. On 28 January 2015, the Sony Entertainment Network was superseded by the PlayStation Network.

History

Sony Entertainment Network was first introduced on 31 August 2011 by Kaz Hirai, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., at the IFA tradeshow in Berlin. Sony decided to create the Sony Entertainment Network platform as a way for the community to access digital entertainment. The platform was operated by Sony Network Entertainment International, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation America. With the new name, also came new logos for the different services on the Sony Entertainment Network. Qriocity services was used by Sony as the video and music downloading platform; it was renamed Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited in 2011. This allowed Sony to expand the Music Unlimited service into Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium by the end of 2011. During 2012, the Sony Entertainment Network was released to the community and was available on Sony's different devices. Instead of using a web-serviced browser in their Bravia Televisions, it was decided by Sony to integrate the Music and Video Unlimited into the TV's home menu. The interface was purposely created for the Sony Entertainment Network and make is more accessible for users to access the services that Sony Entertainment Network offered. On 28 January 2015, the Sony Entertainment Network, along with its Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services, were fully absorbed into the PlayStation Network, succeeding SEN as Sony's leading entertainment service brand. Following this, Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited were rebranded as PlayStation Music and PlayStation Video, respectively.

Services

Video Unlimited

Video Unlimited allowed users to purchase or rent videos. Purchases and rentals could be made online through the Sony Entertainment Network store, through the

PlayStation Store PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital distribution service for users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable content both ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

, and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

, through the Video Unlimited store on many Sony

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

disc players and Bravia TVs or via an Xperia smartphone and tablet app. The services provided customers with an easy and accessible way to watch and discover new movies and TV. Through the wide range of options that Video Unlimited has, a user could choose from new movies, classic movies or to keep up with a TV series. The use of logging in enabled the customer to easily choose and watch videos from anywhere, on devices that are compatible with Video Unlimited. Video Unlimited was later replaced by PlayStation Video.

Music Unlimited

Music Unlimited was a cloud-based music service. According to Sony, the music catalog contained 25 million songs and was available in 19 countries. There were two subscription levels: Access, which allowed for listening to all available music on Mac, PC, PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 3; and Premium, which added availability for mobile devices and Walkman players as well as Blu-ray players and Bravia TVs. Like any normal music service, Music Unlimited allowed users to create playlists, find new songs and songs that are recommended to them through their own taste of music. A special feature that made the Music Unlimited stand out was the ability to listen to music on a

whilst playing a game. The service was replaced in 2015 by PlayStation Music with

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Sony Entertainment Network Store

The interface through the Sony Entertainment Network Store was grouped into sections where users were able to see Top Rated Games, Latest Released Movies, DLC, Coming Soon, Deals and Offers, and PlayStation Plus. The top of the interface displayed the games, movies and TV. The store was the main home to where users could search for different movies, games and other media.

Games

The games section kept track of all of the games that were stored in the Sony Entertainment Network store. Games were used for users who wished to buy games for the PlayStation consoles, the main location for purchasing games on the Sony Entertainment Network.

References

{{Sony 2012 establishments Products and services discontinued in 2015 Defunct video on demand services Sony services