Sony Connect to Eliminate 20-90 Employees and Restructures its Online Music Store

By Beverly Maniago

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Sony Connect, Inc. (a unit of Sony Corp. of America), which offers music online, brought presumably unwelcome news to its employees Tuesday. The company's plan to restructure its online store will affect between 20 and 90 of its employees, Associated Press said in a report.

 

The company didn’t make public any details of the restructuring, but wanted to clarify that it has no plans to shut down operations completely. Information about which positions and how many employees will be let go was not disclosed. Sony Connect also did not say anything about potential severance packages for eliminated employees.

 

Based on reports, AP said it appears Sony Connect hasn’t been performing well lately. This could be because of increase competition from the likes of Apple’s (News - Alert) iTunes Music Store, which enjoys strong popularity.

“They tried to do what Apple did with the iPod, but their player was never nearly popular,” the AP report quoted music analyst Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media as saying.

 

According to the AP report, Sony Connect was launched in 2004. Its services include selling music and operating an online e-bookstore called Sony Reader. Now, Sony Connect has plans to shift its focus to PlayStation game console network services and other online offerings.