Sony will launch it's own music service this spring

January 13, 2004

Sony Corporation of America or
SCA, has announced they will provide a secure download service in the spring.
Just like Apple with iPod, Sony also has a customer base carrying around their
hardware, such as the Walkman, ATRAC CD Walkman players, etc. In all, more than
2.5 million people are already listening to a Sony portable device of some
kind.

Forming a subsidiary called Sony Connect Inc.,
headed by Jay Samit, General Manager, Sony Connect Inc., will manage day-to-day
operations of the Connect service under the SCA umbrella. The new branch will
work closely with all of Sony's U.S. operating companies, and will be based in
Santa Monica, California.

"Digital
music distribution is still in the early stages of development," said Mr.
Samit. "Because of Sony's strong brand, terrific hardware, and experience
with content creation through its entertainment businesses, we are in the
unique position to offer consumers an easy-to-use, affordable service that
is compatible with the broadest number of devices. As Sony is already the
clear leader in the portable audio market, the goal of the Connect service
is to empower music lovers to enjoy music in more ways than ever
before."

"Sony is committed to
creating entertainment services where digital content can be securely
distributed and enjoyed," said Robert S. Wiesenthal, Executive Vice
President and Chief Strategy Officer, Sony Broadband Entertainment. "The
Connect music service is an important component of Sony's overall digital
strategy in the United States."

The service will come to market in phases involving
several limited test trials.The first official public offering will be sometime
in the spring with updated software to be offered in summer. This is to ensure a
better software to hardware "flexability" and tight integration with Sony
products. They continue to evolve the service to better mesh with other
manufaturers hardware as well. Smart move.

With 500,000 tracks from the major music companies
and many independent labels. As usual, content can be browsed by artist, title
or genre. However, the Connect service will also feature special content not
available on any other music site. Singles will be available for 99 cents, and
entire albums can be downloaded for $9.95. The Connect service will not have a
subscription fee.

The service will feature ATRAC3 audio
compression compression, compressed to 132 kbps, allowing consumers to
store audio on CD recordable, MD, Hi-MD or Memory Stick
media.

Source: Music Industry News