Sony Music Bosses Braced For Damaging Leaks

Sony music executives are holding their collective breath as the company braces itself for a further round of more embarrassing data leaks.

It comes after hackers calling themselves ‘Guardians of Peace’ launched a highly damaging hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in late November.

Music’s Turn?

That hack resulted in the leak of unreleased films, as well as the publication of embarrassing internal documents, including the salary details of top executives and personal information on Hollywood celebrities.

The hackers also released emails between Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, in which they appear to mock President Obama. Rudin also reportedly attacked actress Angelina Jolie, reportedly calling her a ‘minimally talented spoiled brat’.

And now executives are Sony Music are braced for similar leaks, despite the fact that the music side of Sony has so far emerged relatively unscathed from the hack.

According to PageSix.com, which cited industry sources, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton has called on his department heads, including Sony Music CEO Doug Morris, telling them to prepare a ‘blanket apology’ in advance of any details that come out.

It is thought that Sony executives are concerned that the GoP hackers managed to access information about the salaries and contracts and live performance riders of a number of music artists.

Sony Music has a number of high profile artists on its books including AC/DC, Adele, Beyoncé, One Direction, David Bowie, Pitbull, and Barbara Streisand.

There are also concerns that emails will reveal that Sony was looking to potentially sell off the music publishing division Sony/ATV.

Political Problem

The hack of Sony Pictures before Christmas last year quickly became a political issue, after Sony opted to suspend the release of its film “The Interview”, a decision that President Obama and a number of Hollywood stars sharply criticised.

The hackers had targeted the comedy film because it is about an assassination plot against North Korea’s leader.

The United States has officially blamed the hack on North Korea. Indeed, the director of the FBI recently said that it was relatively easy to identify the hackers because they had been “sloppy” in covering their tracks.

North Korea for its part has always denied involvement in the attack, but said that the hack was a “righteous deed”.

Sony has subsequently released the film in a small number of independent cinemas and it was also distributed online by Sony, Microsoft, Google and Apple.

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