Sony Music

European Commission Awaits Reply From Apple, Labels on Antitrust Concerns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2007 - 11:25am.

Brussels - The European Commission has granted an extension to Apple and the major record labels on a deadline it imposed on them to respond to allegations of anti-competitive behavior with regard to iTunes Store pricing, Billboard reported.

Sony Music, BMG Merge to Form World's 2nd Largest Record Label

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 6, 2004 - 3:28am.

New York -- Sony Music Entertainment and BMG announced on Friday the creation of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture that will become the world's second largest record label behind Universal and reduce the "Big 5" group of major labels to just four. The merger recently gained antitrust approval from both the Federal Trade Commission and European Commission. Former Sony Music chairman and CEO Andrew Lack will serve as CEO of the 50-50 joint venture, while former BMG chairman and CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz will serve as chairman. "The creation of Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a historic opportunity for us to build a new music company that we believe can thrive creatively and financially in a highly challenging worldwide music market," said Schmidt-Holtz. As a result of the merger, the combined company is expected to lay off as many as 2,000 employees, according to published reports.

tags: Sony Music | BMG Merge | Record Label |

Sony Music to Aid Audible Magic P2P Anti-Piracy System

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 1, 2004 - 3:44pm.

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Audible Magic, a developer of audio fingerprinting technology that the company says can filter copyrighted content on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, has announced an agreement with major record label Sony Music. Under the terms, Sony will provide Los Gatos, Calif.-based Audible Magic with data on its song library so that its tracks are filtered out for users of Audible Magic's system; Sony also licensed Audible Magic's filtering technology for its own internal use. The two companies also said they will collaborate on an anti-piracy system targeted at universities.

tags: Sony Music | Audible Magic P2P | Anti-Piracy System |

T-Mobile, Sony Music Partner on Intl. Mobile Music Distribution

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 26, 2004 - 7:48am.

New York -- Wireless network operator T-Mobile and Sony Music announced on Thursday an international mobile music partnership that will bring music from Sony artists to the cell phones of T-Mobile subscribers in the U.S. and Europe. Under the agreement, T-Mobile will be able to distribute $1.99 HiFi Ringers -- featuring actual clips of song recordings -- from Sony artists including Beyonce, John Mayer and Nas, in addition to polyphonic MIDI tones, artist voice ringers and wallpaper images. The companies will also collaborate on "Artist Packs," each incorporating multiple artist-related mobile offerings.

Electronic Arts, Sony Music Partner on "NFL Street" Game Soundtrack

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 15, 2004 - 3:22am.

Redwood City, Calif. -- Video game developer Electronic Arts said on Thursday that it partnered with Sony Music to include pre-release songs in its new "NFL Street" game, two of which will also be released as music videos that feature actual gameplay footage. The two tracks will also be released to radio as singles. NFL Street, which was released today for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube, features a soundtrack scored by the X-ecutioners, as well as licensed tracks from Sony Music artists including Korn featuring NAS, Killer Mike, Lil Flip, Lostprophets and Wylde Bunch. As part of the partnership, select Sony artist CDs sold at several retailers will include a playable demo CD of NFL Street. "This project gives us the perfect opportunity to combine some of the most exciting artists working today with the fast growing -- and highly influential -- world of gaming," said Don Ienner, president of Sony Music U.S.

Senate Antitrust Committee to Review Merger of Sony Music, BMG

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2003 - 7:56am.

Washington -- The U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee has announced that it plans to review the recently announced merger proposal between Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group, which would reduce the number of major record labels in the world from five to four. The hearing was announced by committee chair Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and ranking Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.). "The deal between Sony and Bertelsmann to combine their music businesses represents even further consolidation in an industry in which only five major firms compete," the senators said in a statement. "While we recognize that the music industry currently faces numerous problems, greater consolidation may not be the answer to those problems." Time Warner is also reportedly in talks to sell its record label business to fellow major EMI, which would further consolidate the shrinking global music business.

tags: BMG | Antitrust | Senate | Sony Music |

Sony Music, Intel Partner to Optimize Multimedia Content for Cell Phones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 16, 2003 - 4:06am.

New York -- Sony Music Entertainment announced on Thursday that it is collaborating with chipmaker Intel to enable users to access music, images, videos and other Sony content on Intel-based cell phones and PDAs. The companies will optimize Sony's mobile applications, services and content for mobile devices running the Intel Personal Internet Client Architecture (PCA), which aims to deliver a PC-quality multimedia experience on a cell phone. "We're excited about working together to create products and services that take advantage of the advanced video, audio and 3D animation capabilities supported by the Intel PCA architecture said Sony Music Entertainment chief technology officer Philip Wiser. Devices based on the partnership are expected to hit the market in early 2004.

Report: Sony Music Takes 4% Stake in Rival Subscription Service MusicNet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 28, 2003 - 2:16am.

Los Angeles -- Sony Music has taken a 4 percent stake in MusicNet, a digital music subscription service joint venture that competes with its own Pressplay joint venture with Universal Music Group, sources close to the company told Reuters on Friday. MusicNet is a joint venture between AOL, RealNetworks and record labels Warner Music, BMG and EMI that sells music downloads and lets users stream music to their PCs. Sony Music also licensed its songs to MusicNet in November. The U.S. Department of Justice began an ongoing probe into antitrust issues between MusicNet and Pressplay in 2001. The two ventures were formed through negotiations and licensing agreements between the five major record labels, which control the majority of the world's recorded music. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2302257

tags: Reports | MusicNet | Subscription | Sony Music |