16th September 2008

Its Official: 7digital.com is 100% MP3

- All of the big four music catalogues available in high quality (320kbps) MP3 format through 7digital.com

- 7digital’s 4 million strong catalogue is now 100% DRM-free, the largest in the UK

- In celebration 7digital will be giving away two free MP3 albums and offering selected MP3 albums from £2 from artists including Queen, The Magic Numbers, We Are Scientists and Sigur Rós.

London, 16th September 08 – 7digital.com, the home of MP3, today announces it is 100% MP3. Following the completion of deals with all of the big four labels, 7digital is now providing digital music in high quality (320kbps) MP3 format. For the first time ever UK consumers will have access to a massive database of music in the MP3 format, which can be played and shared across any music enabled device (DRM Free).

MP3 downloads are compatible with any music player, including iPods, iPhones, Blackberries, MP3 players and mobile phones, and can be legally copied between multiple devices. 7digital.com is now home to a music catalogue that boasts four million MP3 tracks that are DRM-free.

In celebration of this announcement 7digital.com is offering all users two entirely free MP3 albums. The first features a sample of artists from EMI Music’s extensive catalogue and the second is a selection of top acts from 7digital indiestore. Other selected albums, including works by Queen, The Magic Numbers, We Are Scientists and Sigur Rós, will be priced at just £2.

7digital are specialists in digital media delivery, dedicated to providing consumers with services that makes it easier to get hold of digital content and use it. It was established in 2004 and has built a reputation in offering value and accessibility to digital media through its experience in technology and all things digital. It is the UK’s leading digital media delivery company, catering for record companies, artists, film and TV companies as well as other digital media owners throughout the world.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital.com comments, “We are extremely happy to be the first and only digital media company providing a full catalogue of MP3 music for the increasing number of people who are using the Internet to download music onto different devices. The high-quality DRM-free MP3 format is what digital music consumers have been waiting for. It is a universal download format that can be copied and played on multiple devices including iPods, iPhones, Blackberries and other devices.

“Consumers see DRM as somewhat of a hindrance when purchasing legal digital music. The availability of all of the big four music labels in high-quality MP3 is fantastic news for the UK music fan – everything they now buy from us they can be sure will work on all their devices. We’ve seen a huge increase in sales since making MP3 downloads available on 7digital.com.”

16th September 2008

7digital.com announces European and US expansion

- 7digital.com now available in UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria and Portugal

- US and Canada MP3 stores to open in Q4

- New pan-European store offers download choices for all EU citizens.

- Free MP3 albums for all users.

- Major upgrade of indiestore – 7digital’s DIY artist platform – also announced.

- New B2B store features including support for physical product.

London, 16th September 08 – 7digital, the leading digital media delivery company and home of MP3, today announces the expansion of its services into the US, Canada and Europe. 7digital will be the first to offer a major label MP3 catalogue free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) across multiple continents.

European Expansion

Starting today, 7digital is open to customers in Italy at it.7digital.com, Austria at at.7digital.com and Portugal pt.7digital.com, offering high-quality MP3 format downloads priced in Euros. In addition, US and Canadian stores will follow in Q4 this year.

The MP3 format represents the best deal for the music consumer, as they are universally compatible and thus can be copied and played across multiple devices, including iPhones, iPods, MP3 players, mobile phones and Blackberries.

Indiestore upgrades

The 7digital indiestore, a service that allows unsigned bands and artists to sell their music online, will have an entirely new user interface. The 55,000 artist pages and albums pages now have the same look and feel as artists from major labels and feature the same track preview capability. All downloads are also available in the high-quality MP3 format.

The new indiestore platform will also feature video profiles of selected bands and artists filmed before live gigs. The videos, filmed during live performances at the indiestore sponsored Club Fandango gigs, will help promote upcoming talent across indiestore and 7digital. New features on indiestore will include artist recommendations and links with the social networking site Bebo and online music site Last.fm.

Free MP3 Albums for all

In celebration of this announcement 7digital.com is offering all users two entirely free MP3 albums. The first features a sample of artists from EMI Music’s extensive catalogue and the second is a selection of top acts from 7digital indiestore. The track listings for the albums are as follows:

EMI Compilation

The Little Ones - Face the Facts
Pete Greenwood - Negotiations and Last Words
The Loose Salute - The Mutineer
Cherry Ghost - Mountain Bird
Jaymay - Gray or Blue
The Magic Numbers - Fear of Sleep
Doves - The Cedar Room
Saint Etienne - Hobart Paving
Beth Orton - I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine

Indiestore Compilation

Ispo Facto - Harmonise
The Locarnos - Give It To Me Straight
Leah Randazzo - My Weapon
White Sundays -90's Hangover
Shaair and Func - Hard To Forget
The Real Heat - Hearts Not Innit
Stricken City - Bardou
The Velvet Hearts - Into The World
The Franks - Annie Who
The Fine - Hero

Physical Product Integration

7digital also launches physical product support along existing B2B services from today. Brands, music labels and artists operating 7digital powered white label stores will now be able to integrate physical product purchases into an existing white label store, including CDs, gig tickets and merchandise.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital said, “Digital music has now come of age, not just in the UK and US, but globally. We have long strived to offer our customers music downloads in the high-quality MP3 format and are very pleased to be the first to offer this in the UK and beyond.

“We are continuing to innovate across the board. For consumers we are providing the best download experience with high-quality, universally compatible digital music, remote access and online backup for all digital media. Our B2B clients now have more flexibility in reaching their customers and unsigned acts looking to make it big have a great resource with the improved indiestore offering.”

16th September 2008

7digital Opens Up With New Partner and Developer Programmes

- New Application Programming Interface (API) allows developers to create new music applications on web, desktop or mobile devices

- API supports downloads, streaming, music metadata and images and recommendations

- Partner program allows anyone to feature music on their site, blog or profile and earn money from MP3 sales.

London, 16th September 08 – 7digital, the leading digital media delivery company and home of MP3, today announces the launch of a new partner programme and application programming interface (API). The new services will open the highly successful 7digital.com platform and allow third-party developers to create their own tailored download and streaming services and for partners to earn commission from the tracks and albums they sell.

The API platform is designed to be accessible to anyone, from multinational retailers to bedroom developers and will allow a wide-range of music applications and services to be built. 7digital pay out commissions are paid on any sales derived from these applications and services.

The Partner program is designed for non-developers to feature music of their choice on their site, blog or profile simply by copying and pasting code snippets – virtually no technical skill is needed. The program uses similar technology to the highly successful Google AdSense program.

By opening up the 7digital platform via API, developers can select and take data from 7digital.com, including artist, track and album information, and use it, for example, to create a download store for their website. To get started users simply sign up for the service at www.7digital.com/api. A unique API key will be issued, which can be used to sign-in to 7digital’s RESTful web services and retrieve the required data.

The 7digital partner programme (www.7digital.com/partners) will work in a similar vein, but provides non-developers with widgets featuring data provided by the API. Based on the information selected by the user, these widgets will be created that can be embedded into an existing website. These widgets will act as players for the music selected and provide a link for fans to purchase the music on 7digital.com.

Users of the new programmes will benefit from 7digital’s catalogue being entirely MP3 and therefore free of DRM. The MP3 format represents the best quality downloads universally compatible with any music enabled device, including iPods, iPhones, MP3 players and mobile devices.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital said, “With these new programmes we’re aiming to open the 7digital platform to the online community and encourage people to build their own music services. With the new API offering, anyone can pull data from our systems and use it as a backbone for their own download store or music. We have some ideas as to how it might be used but I’m sure we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.

“The partner program provides access to the same data with the added benefit of pre-defined widgets that can be embedded into an existing website. This is ideal for those non-developers keen to get music onto their site, blog or profile.”

1st July 2008

7digital.com reports booming first-half 2008 MP3 sales

- Strong growth in digital album sales driven by MP3

- Sales up more than 300% year-on-year

- 7digital.com is now number 2 in UK digital music retail

- MP3 is the format of choice for the discerning digital consumer

London, 1st July, 2008: 7digital.com, leading digital media delivery company and the home of MP3, today announces rocketing digital music sales following the introduction of the DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) MP3 download format across the Warner Music and EMI catalogues. Sales of Warner Music’s catalogue have increased significantly since it became available in MP3 DRM-free format through 7digital.com. In March, 7digital.com was the first company in Europe to offer Warner catalogue in MP3 and instantly sales of Warner catalogue more than doubled.

Top selling albums in 2008 include Kylie’s X, Radiohead’s In Rainbows and Madonna’s Hard Candy. Sales from 7digital.com have increased more than 300% year-on-year to June 2008, driven by the availability of high quality MP3 downloads outstripping the general market growth.

Sales of Warner Music’s catalogue have increased significantly since it became available in MP3 DRM-free format through 7digital.com. In March, 7digital.com was the first company in Europe to offer Warner catalogue in MP3 and instantly sales of Warner catalogue more than doubled.

The increased MP3 offering has proven popular amongst consumers with site traffic shooting up 130% since January, and visits per month rising to nearly 2 million. 7digital.com saw strong sales of the new Coldplay album Viva la Vida, selling thousands of copies in the first few days and is believed the leading MP3 retailer of the album beating HMV, Play.com, Tesco, Woolworths and Napster (iTunes was the leading digital retailer but does not sell the MP3 format)

“High-quality, DRM-free MP3 downloads have really sparked a new wave of take up of digital music,” comments Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital.com. “This format makes the digital music proposition simple for consumers with one universal format for all devices. Music lovers are beginning to realise that owning an iPod doesn’t mean you can only buy tracks just from iTunes and, in fact, MP3’s are far superior in terms of compatibility. Since the introduction of EMI and Warner Music’s DRM-free catalogues we’ve been attracting increased numbers of iPod and iPhone users, as well as those using Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony Walkman devices and mobile phones.”

With the introduction of Warner’s MP3 catalogue, approximately 80% of 7digital.com’s 4 million track catalogue is now available in the MP3 format. “It is now clear that MP3 downloads represent the future for digital music. With two of the four major labels now supporting MP3 in the UK, we expect to see the whole market supporting MP3 in the not-too-distant future.” concludes Drury

Top 20 MP3 albums for 2008 Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends Kylie Minogue – X Radiohead - In Rainbows Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair Madonna – Hard Candy Hot Chip – Made in the Dark Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! The Kooks – Konk Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust Hadouken! - Music For An Accelerated Culture Pendulum - In Silico Mystery Jets - Twenty One Santogold – Santogold R.E.M. – Accelerate Foals – Antidotes Elliot Minor - Elliot Minor Alphabeat – Fascination

4th March 2008

7digital.com To Distribute MP3 Downloads From Warner Music International

- 7digital.com is the first major European download store to offer Warner Music catalogue in an unencrypted format

- More than 80% of 7digital.com’s 3.5million track catalogue is now MP3

London, 4th March, 2008: Warner Music International (WMI), a division of Warner Music Group (WMG) and 7digital.com, a leading digital media delivery company, today announced that MP3 music audio downloads from Warner Music are now available to 7digital.com customers in the UK, Ireland, Spain, France and Germany. Beginning today, 7digital.com will be the first major European download store to offer Warner Music tracks in the MP3 file format, which is compatible with virtually any digital music device.

In addition, 7digital.com and WMI will work in partnership to offer a range of digital music products such as value-added album bundles that contain additional content. 7digital.com will build and maintain dedicated artist or label pages which Warner Music labels and artists can edit remotely in order to provide fans the latest offerings and artist-related updates.

In celebration of this announcement, 7digital.com today launched a major promotion around Warner Music content, backed by an online marketing campaign. 7digital.com will make selected albums from Warner Music’s world-class repertoire available for a limited period at the price of £5/€6.99.

John Reid, Vice Chairman, WMI & President, Warner Music Europe, said “This deal will offer music fans a new level of flexibility in their use of tracks from our world-renowned artists. We believe that providing consumers with this assurance of interoperability will encourage sales of music downloads and ultimately help the development of new digital music experiences. This agreement will not only enhance 7digital.com’s service and expand our digital footprint but also benefit artists and music fans alike.”

Eric Daugan, Vice President, Digital Business, WMI, said “In 7digital.com we have an agile, innovative and growing partner who will offer us new, improved retail and promotional opportunities across key parts of Western Europe. We look forward to working with them to provide consumers with an even wider choice of content-rich digital products that will further deepen the relationship between our artists and their fans.”

Ben Drury, CEO, 7digital.com, said “7digital.com is excited to be Warner Music's first major partner in Europe to bring MP3s to the marketplace. Our 1.2 million registered customer base has proved to us that MP3s sell very well and MP3 is currently the format of choice for digital media consumers. The addition of Warner Music’s MP3 catalogue to 7digital.com means that over 80% of 7digital.com’s 3.5 million track catalogue is now DRM-free. 7digital.com is committed to becoming the destination for MP3s and we plan to make our entire music catalogue available in DRM-free, high-quality MP3 format by summer 2008.”

Warner Music continues to grow its digital distribution footprint and diversify the services that it delivers to its artists across online and mobile platforms. Warner Music also has strategic partnerships in place that help it reach new audiences around the world including Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

In 2007, 7digital.com saw year-on-year sales grow 188%, with DRM-free MP3 downloads out-selling other digital formats by almost four to one (where MP3 is offered alongside WMA and AAC). In order to meet the increasing demand for DRM-free downloads, 7digital.com is expanding overseas. A recent VC investment of £4.25 million will be used to expand 7digital.com’s offering internationally.

28th January 2008

7digital Agrees Terms of $8.5 Million Investment to Capitalise on Rising Digital Media Demand

- £4.25 million ($8.5 million) investment agreed with a group of investors led by Sutton Place Managers, as well as existing investor Balderton Capital

- 7digital well placed to capitalise on the burgeoning demand for digital media downloads

- Investment will enable 7digital to roll out its international presence to more European countries and the US.

Leading digital media delivery company 7digital today announces that it has agreed terms for an investment of £4.25 million ($8.5 million) with a group of investors led by Sutton Place Managers, as well as existing investor Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Europe).

Sutton Place Managers is a media specialist investor. Mark Getty, co-founder of Getty Images and Partner of Sutton Place Managers, commented: “We are excited to be investing in a platform which has the potential to emerge as a major player in the evolving digital music industry. 7digital comprises a unique combination of high quality B2B download store services, an emerging B2C digital media community (“7digital.com”) and a platform for unsigned artists to reach out to digital music consumers (“indiestore.com”).” Patrick Maxwell, also a Partner of Sutton Place Managers, is expected to join 7digital’s board.

With digital music sales currently accounting for approximately 15% of the world’s music sales, the sector is now worth an estimated $2.9 billion1. The additional funding will enable 7digital to capitalise on increasing consumer demand for digital music and video downloads. It will also enable 7digital to further its international expansion, particularly in the US.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital, comments: “The last year has seen rapid growth in the digital music market and this year we expect it to grow even faster with the move toward the open MP3 format. 7digital has enjoyed incredible growth in the UK and Europe and with this new investment we are well-placed to expand overseas and into new areas.”

This announcement follows a phenomenal year for 7digital, with customer numbers reaching over 1.1 million, sales increasing 188% and successful partnerships with companies including Last.fm and Bebo. The company now offers a catalogue of over 3.5 million music and video downloads, with a large proportion available in high-quality MP3 320kbps format (free of Digital Rights Management, DRM).

The investment is expected to close by the end of February 2008.

9th January 2008

7digital reports record 2007 sales driven by DRM-free MP3 downloads

MP3 sales on 7digital.com result in record fourth quarter sales

Sales up 188% year-on-year outpacing overall digital market growth

Top sellers include Kylie Minogue, Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys

2008 looks even brighter as digital downloads continue to rise.

7digital, leading digital media delivery company, today announces a record end to 2007. Top selling albums in 2007 included Kylie’s X, Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare and The White Stripes Icky Thump. The removal of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and availability of high-quality 320kbps format MP3 tracks has resulted in massive surge in the popularity of digital music and year-on-year sales growth of 188% .

Radiohead was another big seller in 2007 with 6 albums in the top 20 following the exclusive release of its digital catalogue on 7digital.com. The top three singles of the year came from Dave Gahan Kingdom, Kylie 2 Hearts and Pet Shop Boys Integral.

“The 2007 charts reveal the increasingly popularity of digital music,” comments Ben Drury, MD of 7digital. “Alongside some of the year’s big album releases, such as Kylie and Arctic Monkeys, we also find 5 back catalogue Radiohead albums that were only released in digital format late in the year.”

The dexterity of music downloads also seems to have played a part in the singles chart. God Save the Queen makes an appearance 30 years after it was first released and Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight ranks highly following its inclusion in a popular television advert.

2008 the Year of Digital Music

2008 is poised to be the year of digital music, driven largely by the continuing elimination of DRM from music downloads. EMI’s announcement that it would offer its catalogue without DRM in April signalled the beginning of the end for DRM.

“2008 is set to be the year DRM is gone for good” comments Drury. “We’ve already seen all four majors make efforts to offer DRM-free downloads and by the summer DRM will likely be resigned to the history books.

“As the physical market continues to shrink, downloading will continue to grow in popularity. The consumer wants a universally compatible format free of DRM and we’re finally able to offer this with MP3 320kbps downloads. Over 70% of our 3.5 million strong catalogue is available in MP3 format. By mid-year, every one of our downloads will be compatible with iPods, iPhones and all MP3 players, mobile phone or devices,” concludes Drury, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

Top Selling Albums and Tracks of 2007

1. Kylie Minogue – X
2. Sigur Rós - Hvarf – Heim
3. Crowded House - Time On Earth
4. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
5. Roisin Murphy – Overpowered
6. Radiohead - OK Computer
7. Reverend And The Makers - The State Of Things
8. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
9. Interpol - Our Love To Admire
10. Radiohead - The Bends
11. Radiohead – In Rainbows
12. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
13. Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation
14. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
15. Soulwax - Most Of The Remixes...
16. Radiohead - Pablo Honey
17. Air Traffic - Fractured Life
18. Idlewild - A Distant History: Rarities 1997 – 2007
19. Radiohead - Kid A
20. Cherry Ghost - Thirst For Romance

Top 20 mp3 tracks of 2007

1. Dave Gahan - Kingdom (Single Version)
2. Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts
3. Pet Shop Boys - Integral (Dave Spoon Mix)
4. Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
5. Paul Weller & Graham Coxon - This Old Town
6. Spice Girls – Stop
7. Dave Gahan - Tomorrow
8. Pet Shop Boys - Integral (PSB Perfect Immaculate Mix)
9. Reverend And The Makers - Heavyweight Champion Of The World
10. Spice Girls - Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) (Radio Version)
11. Paul Weller & Graham Coxon - Each New Morning / Black River
12. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
13. Palladium - High 5 (Radio Edit)
14. Mattafix - Living Darfur
15. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
16. Dualhead - MIAMI 2 LA (Radio Edit)
17. Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
18. Athlete - Hurricane
19. Eric Prydz Vs. Floyd - Proper Education
20. Joss Stone - L-O-V-E