Post by Inside Australian Idol on Mar 5, 2005 0:54:51 GMT 10
Ringing in the change
By STEPHEN DOWNIE
March 5, 2005
IF the merger of Sony and BMG record companies was the music industry marriage of last year, then their recent gala dinner was the belated wedding reception.
There he was, the father of the bride, Sony chief executive and chairman Denis Handlin, passionately explaining to his extended family, which includes John Farnham, Delta Goodrem and Shannon Noll, that, contrary to a long-held belief in music circles, ego was a dirty word after all.
"Think big, act small, no arrogance,'' Handlin said on the night.
With a room full of industry heavies and his own good ship of stars, that was a pretty big call.
But then, over his 30 years in the industry, Handlin, who this year received an Order of Australia for services to the music industry, has had a reputation as being one of music's most successful diplomats.
The Sony BMG merger has given the company a market share of between 30 and 35 per cent, while its nearest rival, Universal has 23-25 per cent.
The industry is under constant pressure from piracy and substitute entertainment goods such as DVDs, computer games, mobile telephones and the internet.
"Considerable music retail shelf space has been lost to these other consumer products.'' he told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. This, he says, has effected sales and marketing opportunities.
Industry experts believe 2004 full-year sales will come in at $606 million, down about 6 per cent from $646 million the previous year.
And things don't look so rosy this year, either, with a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicting sales will decline almost 3 per cent.
While Handlin wouldn't speculate on what he believes the industry will do this year, he does realise the key for Sony BMG is in investing in the development and marketing of new music.
This year Sony BMG will release new albums from 52 artists that have each sold more than one million albums globally of their last album.
On the local front, new albums are expected from artists such as Farnham, Noll, Anthony Callea, Alex Lloyd, Shakaya and Pete Murray. That may not be enough.
Handlin is also aware of the need to find different revenue streams.
The mobile phone ringtone market has emerged as one of the key drivers for growth.
As he drew to the end of his speech, Handlin touched on the need to remain relevant to the "new youth audience".
It gave you the sense of a man confident enough to know what his business is capable of, but humble enough not to let his own power go to his head.
As he said: "In our business, the minute you know it all you know nothing."
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1265&storyid=2758973
By STEPHEN DOWNIE
March 5, 2005
IF the merger of Sony and BMG record companies was the music industry marriage of last year, then their recent gala dinner was the belated wedding reception.
There he was, the father of the bride, Sony chief executive and chairman Denis Handlin, passionately explaining to his extended family, which includes John Farnham, Delta Goodrem and Shannon Noll, that, contrary to a long-held belief in music circles, ego was a dirty word after all.
"Think big, act small, no arrogance,'' Handlin said on the night.
With a room full of industry heavies and his own good ship of stars, that was a pretty big call.
But then, over his 30 years in the industry, Handlin, who this year received an Order of Australia for services to the music industry, has had a reputation as being one of music's most successful diplomats.
The Sony BMG merger has given the company a market share of between 30 and 35 per cent, while its nearest rival, Universal has 23-25 per cent.
The industry is under constant pressure from piracy and substitute entertainment goods such as DVDs, computer games, mobile telephones and the internet.
"Considerable music retail shelf space has been lost to these other consumer products.'' he told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. This, he says, has effected sales and marketing opportunities.
Industry experts believe 2004 full-year sales will come in at $606 million, down about 6 per cent from $646 million the previous year.
And things don't look so rosy this year, either, with a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicting sales will decline almost 3 per cent.
While Handlin wouldn't speculate on what he believes the industry will do this year, he does realise the key for Sony BMG is in investing in the development and marketing of new music.
This year Sony BMG will release new albums from 52 artists that have each sold more than one million albums globally of their last album.
On the local front, new albums are expected from artists such as Farnham, Noll, Anthony Callea, Alex Lloyd, Shakaya and Pete Murray. That may not be enough.
Handlin is also aware of the need to find different revenue streams.
The mobile phone ringtone market has emerged as one of the key drivers for growth.
As he drew to the end of his speech, Handlin touched on the need to remain relevant to the "new youth audience".
It gave you the sense of a man confident enough to know what his business is capable of, but humble enough not to let his own power go to his head.
As he said: "In our business, the minute you know it all you know nothing."
dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1265&storyid=2758973