Sony Kills off Qriocity Brand, Regroups Digital Group Under Sony Entertainment Network

Sony Corporation is a double-edged sword in some ways. The electronics giant is the maker of such brands like Bravia, VAIO, and PlayStation, while their reaches are felt in the entertainment industry with branches like Sony Pictures and Sony Music/BMG. The fact that Sony has so many branches means that they are able to influence and penetrate many different markets with potentially unique offerings. On the other hand, with so many different brands, managements, and content offering, it can be hard at times to create a unified product, let alone brand and message. Qriocty was no different; the new service launched from Sony earlier this year was officially called Qriocity Music Unlimited and Qriocity Video Unlimited. The music aspect of the service revolved around streaming unlimited music to Qriocity-enabled devices like the PlayStation 3, PSP, Bravia televisions, and compatible Android phones with a subscription cost of either $3.99 or $9.99 while the video side relied on a-la-carte-style shopping, much like video through iTunes.

Another digital service from Sony is the PlayStation Network, which powers the PlayStation 3, PSP, and the soon-to-be-released PlayStation Vita. Till now, Qriocity and PSN have lived and operated independently of each other, though money added to either account was shared in a unified wallet. Now, Sony is dumping the Qriocity brand and instead calling the services Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited. In addition to that, both streaming services and PSN are being unified under a new group called Sony Entertainment Network. Though not owned by Sony, Hulu Plus, Netflix MLB.tv, and Pandora are also joining and being bunched under this category which is designed to streamline Sony’s online services and e-wallet. Think about how, in the Apple ecosystem, content bought from iTunes or App Store on any iDevice or App Store on the Mac are all reaching into the same wallet/credit card account, instead of having users sub-manage 3-5 different accounts. Under the Sony Entertainment Network, PSN will still retain its branding and therefore, the surface, you won’t see any changes there.

While I’m all for a more streamlined offering from Sony and cannot disagree as a whole to their move, I have to wonder if simply rebranding Qriocity will make it any more successful than before. Previously, it was outright silly that Qriocity was fully called Qriocity Music Unlimited. Yes it gave you an idea as to what you were getting, but a brand has to be catchy and Qriocity Music Unlimited was/is not. As clean as Music Unlimited sounds, it still doesn’t function in a conversation. For example, brands like Pandora, Hulu, and to a degree, Netflix didn’t have much meaning prior to their rise. However, as the services caught on, so did their names, which became synonymous with what they offer. I believe instead, Sony should have dropped the Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited part of the branding and focused on a marketing campaign which got the word out that a service called Qriocity exists. As long as the offerings of that service are compelling to the consumer, the name will also catch on, i.e.: Pandora, Wii, Kindle, etc., which at first glance have nothing to do with the actual product.