Sony has blundered badly. Its attempt to digitally protect CD music is backfiring. Spectacularly. Three weeks after the problem was discovered, Sony is still on the media front pages. Still sees fireworks. For all the wrong reasons. And every day there is a new twist. A new disaster.
This case is the can opener exposing all the problems, and issues, of Digital Rights Management. It lifts the lid on the music industry’s attempt to contain, and sometimes criminalize, listening to music in the digital age. It’s the corporation telling the consumer what they can, and can’t do, with music. Or film. Or video. Or TV. And the fans hate it. Especially the young ones
Sony just went too far.
Sony, the company now has no strategy at al. None. They’re in free fall. Crisis management is non existent. Corporate heads are nowhere to be seen. There’s been no apology. No counter to the constant pummeling. No sense from the company, they've got a massive problem. They have
Two groups including the State of
All this is drip, drip, dripping its way through to consumers and fans.
So, somebody will be fired. Probably Andrew Lack, Sony’s BMG CEO. Maybe, many more. If nothing else, for not instigating reputation management. For having no crisis communications strategy. For looking the other way as the company started burning.
The wider question is whether this is the wake up call to the big content companies. The tip that old style soviet command and control, hunt and kill tactics towards fans lead to more and more perilous actions. Yet, can they, and will they, change their business model. Rethink their behavior?
It’s the 64 billion question
