I don’t know if this is a willful shift or merely a serendipitous change in Sony Music’s business model. Either way, they seem to have stumbled onto what we have been discussing for a long time: Breaking free of the mega-hit driven addiction.
Instead, Sony seems to have developed more midlevel artists (as opposed to expensive superstars) who — get this — make the company actually profitable.
Soon, we may learn that Sony has figured out the P2P filesharing is actually free advertising.
“Sony’s market share has declined since [Sony Music boss and TV news veteran) Andrew Lack took over (see chart, above.), and he is short on hitmakers: The only Sony offering among last year’s top ten U.S. albums was Beyoncé’s Dangerously in Love. Moreover, the industry overall remains difficult at best. Last year worldwide sales dropped 7%, albeit following declines of up to 15% in previous years. ”
Source: Forbes
This shift is something other music cos better take notice of . . .
Source:
Music Lessons
Peter Kafka,
Forbes, 04.26.04
http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2004/0426/058.html
