Chalk this one up under the rumor category but Sony’s streaming service, Qriocity Unlimited Music is successful, Sony is considering pulling its music from the dominant digital distributer, Apple and the iTunes store.

 If Music Unlimited becomes popular it will provide a credible alternative to iTunes for music publishers, including Sony Music Entertainment, which includes Bob Dylan, Beyonce, Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem in its stable of artists.

”If we do [get mass take up] then does Sony Music need to provide content to iTunes?” Mr Ephraim asked. ”Currently we do. We have to provide it to iTunes as that’s the format right now.

”Publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold.” 

Over the last several months, Sony has rolled out their Unlimited Music cloud service, starting with the UK and Ireland in December and just this month to France, Germany, Italy and Spain with €3.99 a month giving you access to listen to it as a stream; while €9.99 upgrades to a premium plan that lets you select and sort your music with playlist functionality via Artist, Genre, Decade and more.

Just like iTunes for Apple, Qriocity is designed to work on specific Sony devices like the PS3, PSP, select Bravia, Blu-ray players and Sony Ericsson phones. Still, one thing about iTunes is that once you have purchased the music, you can do whatever you want with it. So I can put it on my PlayStation 3 or burn a CD with it. If Sony were to pull its music from iTunes, those content would only be available to consumers via streaming methods only.

In terms of a strategic standpoint, this might make sense for Sony/BMG. To leverage its artists and let the consumers know that they only method of gaining access to them is through Qriocity. Still, I cant help but think that consumers are the ones who will end up getting screwed the most as their access will suddenly be cut off from that content. Why should I have to subscribe to a streaming only service, just so I can listen to Beyonce.

In the end, if this is true, I hope that Sony realizes the best scenario would be where it can still sell its content to the millions of iTunes users out there, while also offering the same music to those who streaming better fits their lives, instead of making the consumer choose between the two.

[Via The Age]