Sony Qualia Announced
Sony announced last week that it has created a new brand product line intended to identify its highest end products: Qualiahttp://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/QUALIA/">Qualia;. Initially, the new line will launch only in Japan, and will include both audio and video products in addition to a small pocket camera. Sony President Kunitake Ando had previously suggested the line would launch by March 2003.
Sony Settles Payola Investigation
On July 25, New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer announced that Sony BMG Entertainment had agreed to "stop making payments and providing expensive gifts to radio stations and their employees in return for 'airplay' for the company's songs."
Sony Signatures to Host Billy Joel Memorabilia Auction
Billy Joel has decided to clean out his warehouse. Next month, the veteran rocker's almost-30-year-old collection of musical instruments, recording equipment, and stage gear will be put up for public auction by Sony">http://www.ssi.sony.com/">Sony Signatures, his merchandising company. A portion of the gross from the "Billy Joel Memorabilia Auction" will be donated to VH1's">http://www.vh1.com/">VH1's Save the Music Foundation, according to Dan Cooper, Senior Vice President of Sony Signatures' music division.
Sony to Push Hi-Rez Downloads & Playback
It was like old times. A major consumer electronics company was presenting a press conference in a high-rent venue to introduce its new audio products. These events used to be commonplace; now they are rare. But on September 4, in Manhattan's Jazz at Lincoln Center, to an audience that included record company executives from Universal, Warner, and Sony Music, HDTracks' Norman and David Chesky, Chad Kassem and Marc Sheforgen from Acoustic Sounds, whose new DSD download store was last week's big news, musician Herbie Hancock, and veteran mastering engineer Mark Wilder, Phil Molyneux, President and Chief Operating Officer of Sony Electronics since September 2010, announced that the company saw high-resolution audio as the future of recorded music playback.
Sony Tries to Connect
While Apple's iTunes and RealNetworks Rhapsody are battling it out in the music download ring (see related">http://www.stereophile.com/news/032204itunes">related story), and Microsoft is rumored to be eyeing a corner, Sony has now decided to join the fray with a new music service announced last week in Europe.
Sony Will Embrace Internet Sales, Aoki Announces
Where Sony goes, the electronics industry follows. And Sony is going on the Internet—not merely with product information and links to dealers, but with sales direct to consumers. The announcement was made late in January by Sony">http://www.sony.com/sel">Sony Electronics president Teruaki Aoki. "We cannot neglect the customers' viewpoint," Aoki said, acknowledging that serving consumers is a higher priority for the electronics giant than protecting dealers.
Sony-BMG Merger Challenged
The merger of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) may not be a done deal after all.
Sony, IBM in Online Music Partnership
There's gold in them digital music hills. This obvious reality---supported by the music industry's near-panic in the face of the phenomenal growth of MP3 in the past year---was reinforced last week, when Sony">http://www.sony.com/">Sony Corporation and International">http://www.ibm.com/">International Business Machines announced a digital music mutual-aid pact at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Sony, UMG, NARAS's P&E Wing, and Capitol Studios Present DEG Hi-Res Symposium
At a Hi-Res Symposium presented by The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) on June 1 in Capitol's legendary Studio A in Hollywood, representatives from record labels, Sony, Capitol Studios, and The Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers wing discussed the future of high-resolution digital audio.
Sony, Universal Join Forces for Subscription Music Service
It's mating season for entertainment-industry giants. Sony">http://www.sonymusic.com/">Sony Music Entertainment and Universal">http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group are in talks to develop a jointly operated subscription music service for the Internet, according to a report the two companies issued in the first week of May. The news followed by only a week an announcement of a possible">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10729/">possible merger between record clubs Columbia House and BMG Music Club.