Pictures and Music

1. Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is Sony’s global entertainment powerhouse for films and TV shows. It ranked 3rd among movie studios with a 12.5% box office share in 2011, grossing .2 billion in sales in 2010.

SPE has created many iconic franchises like Spider-Man, The Karate Kid, Men in Black, along with hit game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. It entered Hollywood by acquiring Columbia Pictures for .4 billion in 1989.

Besides Columbia and TriStar, SPE owns other film banners like Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and the home entertainment division. Its television arm Sony Pictures Television produces content worldwide.

Though SPE struggled initially after its formation, it eventually found success. However, a 2014 cyber attack by hackers hit SPE before releasing the comedy The Interview.

Recently in 2024, SPE partnered with Disney to distribute its films on DVD/Blu-ray across North America under a licensing deal through Sony Pictures’ Japanese home entertainment subsidiary.

2. Sony Music Group and SMEJ

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is the global leader among the “big three” major record labels, owned by Sony Corporation of America. Its journey began with Sony’s massive billion acquisition of CBS Records in 1988, gaining rights to legendary artists like Michael Jackson.

This formed the foundation for establishing SMEs in 1991. Sony had earlier partnered with CBS for a Japan joint venture called CBS/Sony Records in 1968 which became Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

A major milestone was Sony’s 2004 joint venture with Bertelsmann AG to create Sony BMG by merging their music businesses. Though a copy protection rootkit scandal tarnished its image in 2005, Sony bought out Bertelsmann’s stake to re-establish SME in 2008.

SME expanded into music publishing through acquisitions like the iconic catalogues of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson’s ATV Music. Its 2012 majority stake in EMI Music Publishing made it the world’s largest music publisher.

3. Anime

Sony first entered the anime world back in 1995. Their music division started up Aniplex to manage anime productions. A decade later, they opened their first anime studio, A-1 Pictures.

Sony kept building in this space across different parts of the company and their strategy was making anime a major focus, alongside movies, music, and gaming.

These days, Sony’s anime business is pretty widespread and the pictured unit has anime TV channels like Animax.

A key move was jointly acquiring Crunchyroll with Aniplex in 2017. Crunchyroll is the major anime streaming platform. They recently absorbed some other anime brands too.

In 2021, Sony solidified their anime streaming by fully acquiring Crunchyroll for over a billion dollars. Sony now calls anime its “fourth pillar” of entertainment after movies, music, and gaming.

Sony Corporation is one of the well-known Japanese multinational conglomerates. With its presence across many industries, it has successfully positioned itself as a major company. Back from the days of a mere electronics manufacturer, this company has grown to the point that it is reaching beyond its traditional limits, moving into areas that are completely different from the ones it used to occupy.

Sony has branched into electronics, gaming, entertainment, financial services, and semiconductors, Sony has carved a niche for itself as a well-diversified multinational entity. Its brand awareness and approach have been the driving force behind its triumph in all sectors, be it products or services.