Sony Music Exec Says Streaming Does Not Cannibalize Sales #MIDEM
(UPDATE) Stuart Dredge from Cannes for Midem content partner Music Ally. Find them at musically.com and @musically.
The new president of Sony Music’s global digital business, Denis Kooker, defended streaming music services against accusations that they are cannibalising download sales, during a Midem press conference today. “We are constantly watching our business very closely and looking at how different channels are affecting and impacting each other,” said Kooker.
“At this point we don’t see any evidence that any one area is significantly cannibalistic to any other. Is there substitution? There is always going to be some as people move around and have choice. At this point there is no evidence that any one model is seriously damaging any other model.”
Kooker went further, citing markets where streaming is particularly popular as also being the markets where Sony’s digital revenues are growing overall.
“Ultimately, what we see is that our business is growing in the areas where subscription services are the predominant player in the market,” he said.
“As a result we’re very convinced that consumers ultimately want to experience music in different ways. Sometimes they want to own, other times they want to experience and listen. As a result of that consumer behaviour, we are looking at growing the business overall.”
Read our liveblog for a full report on the press conference, convened by Sony Entertainment Network to focus on its Music Unlimited service. Gracenote and Omnifone also spoke.
Let’s just hope that Sony’s perspective on streaming music remains an open one. One that allows for 3rd party services (Rdio, Spotify, etc.) to co-exist with any streaming services that Sony brings to market (or has brought to market – e.g. Music Unlimited). If that’s the case and if other distributors start singing Sony’s tune then this is a really good thing for consumers.
Thumbs up! The fact that he is singing this tune shows how far things have come.
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