Michael Jackson
The new album will feature unreleased tracks recorded by the pop icon before his death. Zoran Veselinovic / Wiki

Fans of pop icon Michael Jackson will be thrilled at the news that an album of previously unheard music is set to be released by Sony Music Entertainment.

The not so great news is that it will set you back £600 just to hear it.

The album of the late singer's unreleased material and lost tracks will initially only be available as pre-installed music on the Sony Xperia Z2 phone.

An advert for the Xperia Z2 phone uses a song from the album which is a remix of the Jackson track Slave 2 The Rhythm.

The album produced by Epic Records will be the first Jackson album featuring fresh material since 2010's Michael.

The news has angered many as Sony appears to be cashing in.

Music journalist Kevin Hughes said: "Because we're talking about a new Michael Jackson album, many fans will probably invest in the phone.

"But Michael's music deserves to be available to all, so I hope the full album release will follow within days or weeks."

The eagerly awaited album is produced by L.A. Reid with Timbaland working on several tracks.

His official DJ, Freestyle Steve, tweeted last year: "So last night I heard some of the new tracks Timbaland is doing for the King of Pop … WOW!"

Jackson was said to be working on new songs when he died in 2009 and rumours of an album surfaced last year.

Sony's official price for the Xperia Z2 is £599 in the UK and is expected to cost about $600 in the US.

It's not the first time music has been used to sell phones. Rapper Jay Z made the first million copies of his 2013 album 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' available for free download to Samsung customers.