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SONY CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT 2000
26
BUSINESS REVIEW
music
THOMAS D. MOTTOLA
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Ricky Martin’s English-language album debuted at #1 on
the Billboard 200 chart with the highest first-week sales
in Columbia Records history.
MESSAGE FROM TOP MANAGEMENT
During the year ended March 31, 2000, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), responsible for
Sony’s Music business outside Japan, continued to emphasize artist development by cultivating
new A&R sources globally and introducing local successes into other territories. As a result, the
company earned record revenues on a U.S. dollar-basis, increased market share, and ushered in
a new era of acceptance and excitement for Latin popular music with mainstream audiences
worldwide.
In concert with Sony’s vision for the network era, we strengthened our network distribution
business to encompass the retail, advertising, and music licensing
communities and began bringing streaming audio and video channels
to broadband through Sony Music Online. SMEI finalized the infra-
structure to support Sony’s introduction of SDMI (Secure Digital
Music Initiative) compliant portable digital devices with commer-
cial downloading of titles from online retail and Sony sites. We also
acquired and invested in digital media companies we believe will
help define the direction of digital entertainment. Strategically, SMEI
is positioned to fulfill the promise of the digital era and continue as
one of the leading entertainment companies in the world.
HIGH NOTES
During the year, All The Wa y – A Deca de of Song by Celine Dion and Ricky Ma rtin sold more
than 15 million and 14 million units worldwide, respectively, while aggregate sales of new
albums by Marc Anthony, Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, Dixie Chicks, Macy Gray, Jamiroquai,
Ko n, Jennifer Lopez, Rage Against The Machine, Savage Garden, and Will Smith eclipsed 50
million units.
R