IMC Plan

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A Market Analysis for
Sony Music Group
Mariya Peterson
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
March 27, 2022

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report looks at Sony Music Group and their efforts in the community and the work
they should do to appear to be a work-life friendly company, so the company can get the best
new hires in the music industry.

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OBJECTIVE
Sony needed me to analyze what they as a company could do to help the company appear
to care about their employees, so people would want to work for the company. So, what we
needed to focus on is how. How are we going to make a multimillion-dollar company appear to
be worker friendly?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
I found most of my information on Sony’s website. I also looked at their LinkedIn page
and all social media pages. All my research I did was external. While gathering my research I
decided I wanted to see what it was like looking at Sony Music from the outside in. I was
researching the company as a potential new hire. I researched Sony Music Group for the past
month. All my sources are from the past four years. One challenge I faced while gathering my
research is there is not a lot of information about the work life of Sony Music Employees. While
conducting more research for this report I found Sony’s Sustainability Report. In the report they
have gathered their ethics and compliance reports, their work environment information, and their
management approach for respect for Human Rights. Sony does have information out their
employees work life however, it is difficult to find.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS

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Sony Music Entertainment is the second largest record companies included in the “Big
Three”. The “Big Three” recording companies are Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group
and Warner Music Group. Sony Music Group record labels include Columbia Records, RCA,
and Epic Records. Sony Music Group was founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1946.
The target market for my company is their potential new employees. I found that Sony
Music Group supports their artists and their successes. They also lend a helping hand with
natural disasters and with the COVID-19 Pandemic. I found all this information on their website
and their social media pages. But what I did not find is how they treat their employees. There is
not a lot of testimonials on their LinkedIn page, they do not post about their employee’s
successes on their website or on their social media pages.
During my STEEPLE analyses I found their sociological efforts, helping their community
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sony is big into technological effort with creating the first ever
Metaverse concert (Sony Music Entertainment, 2021). Sony has made an impact on the
economy. According to Music Business Worldwide the calculated that Sony generated $5.77
billion USD which is up 25.2% or $1.16 billion USD from 2020.
Appendix A

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Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group are doing their part
to lower greenhouse emissions by 2050. They are
hoping to help their ecological impact by lowering
their carbon emissions and hoping to achieve a 50
percent reduction by 2030 (Beaumont-Thomas,
2021). By 2050, the companies are hoping to reach
net-zero emissions.
Their political stance on the invasion of
Ukraine by Russian forces was made apparent
when on March 10, 2022, Sony decided to suspend operations in Russia. They made a post on
their homepage which reads, “Sony Music Group calls for peach in Ukraine and an end to the
violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue to support of global
humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need (Sony Music Entertainment, 2022).
Legally, Sony has acquired their fair share of independent music companies. In March of
2022, Sony’s transaction to acquire an independent Brazilian music company, Son Livre, was
completed. Sony has a Code of Conduct which is based around their core principles of fairness,
integrity, honesty, respect, and responsibility. Sony’s Code of Conduct can be found online.
With my SWOT Analysis I found their strengths to be Sony takes care of their employees
and their artists. Sony just posts more about their artist success rather than their employee’s
successes. Sony is acquiring more independent recoding labels. However, it has been pointed out
in a post that it appears the big three are trying to create a monopoly in the music industry.
Which as we know creating a monopoly in any industry is illegal. So, in my opinion Sony needs
to be careful about how many recording labels they acquire.
Appendix B

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Sony appears to be a strong company in the music industry however like any other
industry they took a hit when it came to the COVID-19 pandemic. With numerous concerts and
festivals being cancelled or postponed the live music revenue took a major hit. Another analysis I
came to was Sony found a way around the COVID-19 shutdown with their technological
advances by creating a concert in the Metaverse. Sony believes in the power of our technological
advances to create a new way for artist to share their music with their fans.
A threat I found while conducting my research was how difficult it was to find the
information on how their work life is. When a prospective new hire is looking for information
about the work-life balance of a company, how that company treats their employees, how the
environment of the company is and
their ethics and morals it should only
take a simple search to find this
information. According to Rick
Suttle, there are three things to look
for in an employer which are the
company’s reputation, career
advancement and work balance.
Sony needs to make this information easier to find. Have a link or a dropdown menu on their
homepage which is dedicated to all this information.
CONCLUSIONS
Sony Music Group in the stock market is going strong and the company is making
money. Sony Music Group is going above and beyond to help their community fight during the
COVID-19 pandemic. While nothing is being said about how they are helping their artists who
Appendix C

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have stopped touring and their employees who have worked through the entire pandemic. Sony
has made a promise to cut down on their greenhouse emissions. They need to post more about
their employee’s successes and make it easier for a new hire to find information about work-life
balance and what a day-to-day life looks like in the company.
RECOMMENDATIONS
My recommendation for Sony Music Group is to post more on social media or on their
website and show the work life of their employees. Yes, it is important to see how successful
their artists are but the workers in the office matter as well. Create a page for them to post on
about upcoming artists, how their personal work life is. It is important to show this for potential
new hires. A new hire wants to see how an employer treats their employees. Sony should make
this new web page within the next couple of months. With the school year winding down soon a
lot of new candidates are going to be looking for a company to work for. Sony should reach out
to potential new hires and find out what these new hires are looking for in a company and add
those to their website or bring them up to the Board Members if they are not already in place.

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REFERENCES
Beaumont-Thomas, B. (2021, December 14). Music industry unites to pledge net-zero emissions
by 2050. The Guardian . Retrieved March 11, 2022, from
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/14/music-industry-net-zero-emissions-by-
2050-sony-warner-universal
Cohen, L. (2016, April 6). Work-life balance - an unattainable dream? Changeboard. Retrieved
March 25, 2022, from https://www.changeboard.com/article-details/15060/work-life-
balance-an-unattainable-dream-/
Giving Back. Sony Music Entertainment. (2022, March 9). Retrieved March 11, 2022, from
https://giving-back.sonymusic.com/
Ingham, T. (2022, February 2). Sony generated $7.5bn across recorded music and publishing
last year, up 24% yoy. Music Business Worldwide. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/sony-generated-7-5bn-across-recorded-
music-and-publishing-last-year-up-24-yoy/
Lugen, M. (2021, December 15). Record labels join music climate pact to become carbon
neutral by 2050 • volume. Volume. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from
https://volumeutah.com/news/record-labels-music-climate-pact/
Marx, A. (2015, March 23). Tell me again how there's no monopoly in the music industry. Adam
Marx's Mind. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from
https://adammarxsmind.com/2015/03/23/tell-me-again-how-theres-no-monopoly-in-the-
music-industry/
McIntyre, H. (2022, February 1). The 3 major record labels & their role in the music industry.
Music Careers | Expert Advice - Careers In Music. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from
https://www.careersinmusic.com/major-record-labels/
Roblox partners with Sony Music Entertainment to bring their artists into the Metaverse - Sony
Music. Sony Music Entertainment. (2021, July 6). Retrieved March 10, 2022, from
https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic/roblox-partnership/
Sony Honored as One of “World’s Most Ethical Companies” in 2019. Sony Honored as One of
"World's Most Ethical Companies" in 2019 | Sony Pictures Entertainment. (2019, February
27). Retrieved March 12, 2022, from
https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2019/02_19/022719_worldmostethicalc
ompany.html
Sony Music Entertainment completes its acquisition of Som Livre - Sony Music. Sony Music
Entertainment. (2022, March 4). Retrieved March 10, 2022, from
https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic/som-livre-acquisition-closes/

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Sony Music Group suspends operations in Russia - Sony Music. Sony Music Entertainment.
(2022, March 10). Retrieved March 10, 2022, from
https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic/suspending-operations-russia/
Sustainability Reporting. Sony Group Portal - Sustainability Reporting. (n.d.). Retrieved March
25, 2022, from https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/csr_report/
Suttle, R. (2018, June 29). The three most important things you look for in your employment
relationship. Work. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://work.chron.com/three-
important-things-look-employment-relationship-7113.html
Zarczynski, A. (2021, May 10). How Sony Music Group is expanding its Global Social Justice
Fund. Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreazarczynski/2021/05/10/how-sony-music-groups-
global-social-justice-fund-is-empowering-artists-worldwide/?sh=1f41471a531b
APPENDICES
Appendix A:
Marx, A. (2015, March 23). Tell me again how there's no monopoly in the music industry. Adam
Marx's Mind. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from
https://adammarxsmind.com/2015/03/23/tell-me-again-how-theres-no-monopoly-in-the-
music-industry/
Appendix B:
Lugen, M. (2021, December 15). Record labels join music climate pact to become carbon
neutral by 2050 • volume. Volume. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from
https://volumeutah.com/news/record-labels-music-climate-pact/
Appendix C:
Cohen, L. (2016, April 6). Work-life balance - an unattainable dream? Changeboard. Retrieved
March 25, 2022, from https://www.changeboard.com/article-details/15060/work-life-
balance-an-unattainable-dream-/