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Digital
Major label reps talk up Sony’s streaming service
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 24 January 2011
All four of the major labels had reps on stage at MIDEM this weekend to big up Sony Corp’s new streaming music service Music Unlimited, which, as previously reported, comes as part of the electronics and entertainment giant’s Qriocity content-on-demand platform. The service, already live in the UK, pumps out music to all net-connected Sony devices, including PCs, Blu-Ray players, TVs and PlayStations, with plans to role it out to Sony and any Android-powered smartphones.
Discussing the new service at MIDEM this weekend, Sony Network Entertainment president Tim Schaff told delegates: “We are trying to do something at Sony that hasn’t happened in the past very well: to take a look at the full range of assets of the company and try to create a really exciting set of propositions that address an extreme need of consumers”. The ‘extreme need’ being internet services that work on multiple devices.
And while Universal’s digital chief Rob Wells aired some caution about the potential of all digital services while piracy remains rampant, he conceded that platforms like Music Unlimited were attractive in that they potentially appealed to a customer base not yet consuming digital music.
It was a viewpoint shared by Warner Music digital strategy man Michael Nash, who said: “When you see this service demonstrated… you realise how exciting the service is going to be, particularly in the digital living room. And I see it as significantly additive. We’re potentially talking about tens of millions of consumers who are largely not digitally migrated at this point”.
