Microsoft has announced that it will be launched a music streaming service, called Xbox Music, on the console of the same name on 16 October.

The service is designed to rival the likes of iTunes and Spotify, with an £8.99 monthly fee granting users access to the entire music library ad-free. The service is free unlimited for the first six months, but any usage will be restricted after that.

And it's not just on the Xbox console that you can use the service, as it will be followed by versions on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 later this month. The cloud-based offering will allow users to sync their music across their console, tablet and phone.

The move reveals that consoles are increasingly being seen as entertainment devices that offer more to the home user than just games.

This is Microsoft's second stab at the music market, after Zune failed to capture peoples' attention and was axed last year.

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner