The Japanese company's "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" is a cloud computing-based digital music service that does not involve downloading tracks like Apple's iTunes.

Instead, a subscription gives users access to a catalog of about 6 million songs, which can streamed to Sony's Internet-connected devices like the PlayStation 3, personal computers and Bravia TVs. The service can be synchronized with a user's existing music files, including iTunes, Sony said.

The service began in the U.K. and Ireland Wednesday and will be rolled out in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and the U.S. next year.