SYNERGY

&

CONVERGENCE IN S

ONY

MUSIC E

NTERT

AINMENT

J OR

DA

N M

I TC

HE

L L & E

MM

A S

MI T

H

PRODUCTION

• Sony use ACID Pro 7, a music production program which is created by Sony Creative Software (A subsidiary of Sony focused on software production)

• Another subsidiary of Sony is Sony DADC, who manufacture CDs, Blu-rays etc.

• These are forms of convergence of industries because different branches of Sony are working together for the Music Industry. Due to Sony being such a large company they are able to act independently will the production of music because they can use their own software and make the hardware. This could affect the music industry because small companies who focus on software production and producing(studios and producers) may find themselves useless in the music industry if companies like Sony can do it themselves.

DISTRIBUTION

• VEVO have a partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, as well as Universal Music Group, Abu Dhabi Media and previously EMI. They host music videos on YouTube and use adverts at the start of each video to produce revenue. This is good for the music companies as it allows them to regulate the online distribution of their music videos and make money from it.

• VEVO also have applications on many popular devices, such as the iPad, GoogleTV and the Android Market. This allows much more people to access the content and is also an example of convergence of technologies.

• Music Unlimited is an online music-streaming service owned and operated by Sony. It allows for music to be streamed to a variety of devices, such as Android phones, BRAVIA televisions, Playstation 3, tablets and within internet browsers.

• They have music from a variety of record labels, which is an example of convergence of companies.

MARKETING

• One Direction and JLS have both appeared in Nintendo Adverts. Nintendo is the direct competition in the gaming industry for Sony so having their artists in their adverts is a symbiotic relationship between Sony and Nintendo because they give the artists and games exposer to the two different fan groups.

• At the 2012 Brit awards One direction stated they would be starting their headlining arena tour in 2013. This is an example of synergy because they used a high profile music event to say they are starting their tour. The Brits was four days before the tickets went on sale. The entire tour then sold out in 45 minutes . Also due to the Brits being such a high-profile programme most people was watching it so their target market started tweeting about it leading to it becoming a trending topic and promoting it further. This is a convergence between the music industry and digital technologies.

CONSUMPTION AND EXCHANGE

• Itunes became the biggest music seller in 2008 . Its expected for the majority of music to be sold from here. Bu t in 2009 Itunes took a fall of 5% in their yearly sales because the market seems to be giving way to the video. This is why Sony invested in VEVO because they are the most popular music video website at the moment due to the easy access the internet, smart phones and apps allow . Also VEVO is surrounded by advertising and related videos. This is an example of Synergy because Itunes are going to make money from Sony’s world wide artists because they each have large fan bases and therefore their will be lots of downloads. Also Sony will make money because the way audiences access their music now is through the music and the demand for music access on the go is expected so by their artist music being on Itunes there will be more downloads due to the constant availability to it.