Sony Corp of America reckons the large fortune it shelled out buying the big Columbia Records from CBS Inc will begin to pay off in terms of synergy with other parts of its business when the Internet gets established with consumers, and it is preparing itself against that day. The company is now called Sony Music Entertainment (we wonder how Noel Coward would have felt about his later recordings appearing round the world on the Sony label, as they now do), and Sony plans to form an interactive on-line service that will be available worldwide over the Internet and will initially link users to Sony Music Entertainment, although other Sony companies, such as the movie studio, will follow later this year. Sony Music Entertainment’s service will provide fans with information such as album news, biographies, discographies, concert dates and tour schedules. Users will also be able to get information from Sony Music record labels, and in due course will be able to watch music video clips and hear brief sound samples from current and upcoming albums. The new Sony Online, created to co-ordinate the interactive services offered by each of Sony’s main operating divisions will run it.
