Last week in our PS3 vs Xbox 360 Comparison we looked at the differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360’s movie playback services. This covered the PSN video store, Zune Marketplace and the other features which allow users to watch movies.
This week we are going to be looking at the music services of both console, from Vidzone on PSN to Last Fm on Xbox Live. There are also other unique advantages to each console in terms of music playback, so we will also have a look at those features.
PS3 – Vidzone
Vidzone is a fairly new feature to the PlayStation Network, however it is a very advanced music video playback service which streams your choice of music videos almost instantly once you have chosen them. One of the big advantages to VidZone is that it allows you to search for the artist of your choice and create a playlist of all your favourite artist, this is a fantastic feature because your choice of playlist will always be stored on the system, therefore allowing you instant access as soon as you load it up.
Another great feature to Vidzone is the way it is presented on the homepage, giving you the ability to view the most popular tracks, artists of the week, themed charts, be it Christmas, Cover artist, One hit Wonders etc and be able to access these almost instantly as soon as they catch your eye.
One final noteworthy feature of Vidzone is that you can create a playlist via PSP and have it waiting for you on PS3 when you get home and what’s more you can even watch music videos via remote play
Vidzone is already a very popular service on the PS3 with well over 10,000 videos already on the service and what’s more they are all free to access. The only real downside to Vidzone is that it is not yet available in all European countries, with only 18 being supported at this present moment.
Xbox 360 – Last FM
Last Fm is a recent addition to the Xbox 360, though unlike its PS3 counterpart this service concentrates on streaming music, rather than videos. To access Last Fm, Xbox Live users require an Xbox Live Gold Membership and the free application which can be downloaded direct from your dashboard, although if you want to take full advantage of the service you will also need to get yourself a Last FM membership for £3 a month.
Once you have installed and set up an account you will then be able to listen to music from your favourite band via their channel. There are literally hundreds of artists available for you to listen to and selecting one will not only play their music, but also music from similar bands. When a song is playing you are able to view photos of that artist, view their profile and even view similar artists. Other options within the app allow you to go straight to your recently listened to stations, start a new station by typing in an artist name, listen to gaming stations and also view your library which will eventually build up with your favourite music.
The main drawback to Last Fm is that currently it is only available in the US and UK, although there are plans to roll it out to other countries soon.
Other Playback Features PS3/Xbox 360
Both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 allow users to stream music using a media server, so both consoles are pretty even in this respect, with both allowing you to copy any streamed music to your hard drive and also create playlists.
Another feature of both consoles is the ability to read portable music devices, therefore you can simply plug in your ipod, walkman (other brands are available) and simply select the songs you wish to play.
The above features are both great as they allow you access to unlimited amounts of music, although occasionally there can be a few problems, especially with the PS3 as it tends to just display the folders of the music device, therefore making songs a bit harder to find than they should be.
It is also worth mentioning that the PS3 Browser does let you gain access to many music services on the internet, while the Xbox 360 does allows users to access music videos, although the latter do have to be downloaded individually and purchased individually.
Conclusion
It is quite close to call between both consoles in terms of their music playback ability, each has their advantage, although it has to be said that VidZone on the PS3 does seem to be a far easier way to access the songs you want than LastFm. It all comes down to choice in the end though, would you rather has 3.5 million songs to listen to or over 10,000 to watch at your pleasure?
Next week is the big one as we will be looking at the games of the Playstation Store vs, those of Xbox Live Arcade, and this will cover arcade titles, downloadable games and also Xbox Live Indie and PSP Mini games. It should be interesting.
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/03/23/ps3-vs-xbox-360-music-playback/
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Although I haven't used Last.fm on the 360 yet, VidZone is absolutely brilliant! Just wished they had music videos from Warner and EMI!!
What's Your view?
