Sony Connect
| Opened | Before 2006 |
|---|---|
| Platforms | OpenMG |
| Format | Sony ATRAC |
| Availability | Closed |
| Website | musicstore.connect.com |
Sony Connect was the name for a series of related products by Sony for marketing content online.
The CONNECT Music Store was Sony's music store built within the SonicStage music management application for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. It was one of the world’s largest online music download stores with over 2.5 million tracks to preview and purchase, with over 10,000 new songs added every Tuesday. The CONNECT Music Store closed in North America and Europe on 31 March 2008, and the website has been unavailable from 1 March 2008.
However, in late 2008, Sony launched a new online music store called "Bandit.fm" on a trial basis in Australia and New Zealand. Bandit.fm has been considerably more successful and although unconfirmed, it is widely expected that Sony will launch Bandit.fm globally in the medium-term future, pending the results of the Australian/New Zealand trial.
"Sony Connect" was also the name given to the software used to manage book, music and image content on the Sony Reader; it has since been renamed Sony eBook Library.
The SonicStage software transferred music tracks to Sony media devices like Network Walkman, CD Walkman, Hi-MD, PSP (via the Memory Stick), Clie handheld or VAIO computer, but did not transfer to non-Sony hardware. Although the CONNECT music store was available on the World Wide Web, music can only be accessed with CONNECT Player or SonicStage installed.
Sony Japan announced a total revision of the player software, now known simply as "CONNECT Player." It was expected to debut in the United States sometime in quarter one of 2006. However, its release in Japan and Europe in November 2005 led to thousands of complaints about the CONNECT Player's performance. Eventually Sony Europe advised its users in January 2006 to abandon CONNECT in favour of SonicStage.
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