■ Power of Music

With Rob Stringer (left; Chairman, Sony Music Group, and CEO, Sony Music Entertainment)
and Jon Platt (right; Chairman and CEO, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)

This year's customary Board Member Site Visit was held in New York, and the theme was the "Power of Music." As such, it featured business updates from the recorded music and music publishing businesses of Sony Music Group (SMG), which was newly established on August 1, as well as reports on collaborative efforts and synergies between the two businesses. And in order for Sony Board members to further deepen their understanding of our Music business, this visit also included opportunities to interact with and get to know some of the artists signed to Sony Music.

At the dinner party held on the first evening, we were treated to an exclusive live performance by pianist Chloe Flower, who is a Sony Music Entertainment (SME) artist.

Enjoying a live performance by Chloe Flower alongside the Board Members

This was the second time I had the privilege of experiencing one of Chloe's breathtaking live performances, with the first being at the Grammy Awards ceremony in February. During my speech at the dinner party, I stated that "Music itself is incredibly diverse, and that is precisely why I feel that as a music company, Sony must be diverse and inclusive. I am confident that Rob and Jon will lead the Sony Music Group to new heights of diversity and inclusion as we move forward."

On the final day of the two-day site visit, we had the chance to meet world-famous SME artist/songwriter Carole King. "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," which chronicles her early life and career, is currently playing on Broadway, and the copyrights for many of the hit songs featured in the show including "You've Got a Friend" and "I Feel the Earth Move" are managed by Sony/ATV (S/ATV). S/ATV also invests in the musical.

With Carole King (Center)

Through this visit, I was able to see the various ways in which SME and S/ATV are becoming even more closely aligned since the formation of SMG. And just recently, we had the exciting announcement that nine-time Grammy Award-winning R&B/Pop artist Rihanna has signed a publishing deal with S/ATV. I look forward to seeing Sony Music Group continue to get even closer to artists and excelling as the world's most artist friendly music company.

■ Tech Day

Sony Technology Day was held on September 18, and I delivered an opening speech outlining the role of technology at Sony, the value it generates, and how it enables us to contribute to society. For an overview of this speech and a more detailed look at the event itself, I encourage you to read the forthcoming report on the Inter Sony website.

The theme of the Tech Day was "Technology that inspires emotion." Under the leadership of Toru Katsumoto, Officer in charge of R&D, the event was held to showcase the ways in which our technologies enable us to get closer to people and deliver value to creators and users, and also how they empower all our businesses. Amidst the final preparations, Katsumoto-san and I visited the event venue the day before, to view each of the exhibits.

A robotic arm with haptic physical sensors sensitive enough to grasp objects as small as 0.2mm.
It is expected to have practical applications in a range of fields such as the medical domain.

Combining live-action images with realistic CG images created using real-time ray tracing technology.
This technology utilizes 40 parallel-operated GPUs.

IP video transmission technology over 5G by utilizing real-time transmission technologies cultivated through Sony's experience in live broadcasting.

In addition to the above, the power of our imaging and sensing technology was also on full display. Examples included the development of the world's first image sensors capable of capturing light polarization; development of next-generation automotive sensors with enhanced low-light sensitivity, resolution and dynamic range; and sensor fusion technologies (combines raw data from cameras and LIDAR sensors to achieve highly accurate sensing) that Sony is uniquely positioned to deliver as an image sensor company.

Sensor fusion technology that achieves highly accurate object recognition,
even under suboptimal conditions such as mist, heavy rain, and night-time driving.

The event received positive feedback from Japanese and international media, analysts, and investors, and I believe we were able to effectively convey Sony's technological strengths that empower our businesses.