Sony sends 15 million songs to Cloud to close iTunes gap, including Michael's songs

Sony Corp. will put songs by Michael Jackson and many other artists online in Japan through its streaming music service. Sony said it will introduce Music Unlimited, a cloud-based catalog of 15 million songs, in its home market by the end of December after rolling it out in 16 other countries first. The company hopes flat fees, unlimited listens and accessibility through mobile and gaming devices will help close the gap with iTunes, which started offering downloads in Japan in 2005.

Music Unlimited's late arrival in the world's second-biggest music market will serve as a test of new Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai's ability to bring Sony's (6758) different units closer together. Hirai, who started in the music division, is trying to turn a profit after four years of losses and has said that integrating the company's hardware and software offerings as "One Sony" is key to that.

"Sony still has its silo structure," said Takashi Watanabe, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Tokyo. "A lack of collaboration between sections probably caused a delay in offering the online entertainment service. Sony is trying to change that."

Sean Yoneda, a spokesman for Sony, declined to specify a date for Music Unlimited's introduction in Japan. Sony's music unit was the second-biggest contributor of operating income at the Tokyo-based company, trailing financial services, in the fiscal year that ended in March 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sony has yet to deliver on a 2009 plan to lure customers to its hardware devices by integrating online services for games, music, books and films, Watanabe said.

"Music content could be a key factor to revive Sony," he said. "The time is over where an electronics company can excel just because it has a good device. You have to have a very good platform to capture your clients within your system."

Sony introduced its online music service under the name Qriocity in the U.K. and Ireland in December 2010. Renamed in August 2011, it has boosted its catalog to 15 million songs released by Sony's own music units—which include Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Bruce Springsteen—and others including Universal Music Group, the world's largest recorded music company, and Warner Music Group.

Music Unlimited lets users stream songs via Web-connected Bravia televisions, some Walkman models, PlayStation game players, personal computers and Android-based mobile phones. The service was expanded to the PlayStation Vita in March after being enabled on Sony Tablets and other Android-based tablets in October. By contrast, iTunes users can buy music and store it on PCs or portable devices for listening without an Internet connection.

sources: Legendary MJ (LMJ), Bloomberg Business Week