7digital

Overview

Initially their API was used by Guvera, Onkyo, Samsung, BlackBerry, HMV, musical.ly (now TikTok) and Technics. They subsequently partnered with Triller, FORME Life, Soundtrack Your Brand, Global Eagle, Grandpad, Apex Rides, and Fender.

History

2004–2009

7digital was founded in 2004 by Ben Drury and James Kane as a B2B digital music services company, building music download stores for record labels, brands and other retailers. 7digital Direct to Consumer (D2C) service was launched in 2005.

7digital is backed by technology venture capital firm Balderton Capital (formerly Benchmark Capital Europe). On 28 January 2008, 7digital raised £4.25m in its series B investor round, securing investment from various groups including Sutton Place Managers. The investment was to be used to launch 7digital.com in more European countries and the United States, along with expanding the sites offerings to include downloadable video and computer games.

In September 2008, 7digital.com was the first company in Europe to launch DRM-free MP3 downloads with all four major record labels.

As of October 2008, 7digital employed 45 people in London and had over 1.3 million registered customers.

On 3 August 2009, HMV bought a 50% holding in 7digital from its venture capital owners.

2010-2019

In 2011, 7digital expanded with an office in Luxembourg and in early 2012, they expanded to the US with an office in San Francisco, CA.

In October 2012, 7digital secured $10 million in funding from two new investors, Dolby and Imagination Technologies. HMV's stake was previously reduced to less than 20%, and following HMV entering into administration, retail restructuring specialists Hilco, are now the holders of these shares.

On 25 November 2013, UBC Media announced merger plans with 7digital by way of a reverse takeover. The merger was completed in May 2014, forming 7digital Group Plc.

The company entered a business relationship with MediaMarktSaturn in 2017, which it ended in 2019, in exchange for a cash payment of €4 million. The end of the partnership led to a need for 7digital to raise capital by the third quarter of 2019 to remain operational. The share price fell in response to these developments, with a loss of 63% on 9 April and further losses on 10 April 2019.

Clients

7digital's agnostic platform is used for building products on any type of connected device.

• Barry's{{cite news |access-date=9 July 2021}}

• Kuaishou: Kuaishou has multiple short video platforms and live broadcasts apps around the world including Kuaishou, Kuaishou Lite, Kwai, Zynn, and Snack Video{{cite news |access-date=12 March 2021}}

• Apex Rides: London-based Apex Rides, a smart bike and in-home fitness platform{{cite news |access-date=9 September 2020}}

• Triller: US-based short-form video sharing app (and TikTok rival){{cite news |access-date=12 August 2020}}

• Musical.ly: (May 2016)

• eMusic: (Jan 2016)

• Guvera: (July 2014){{cite magazine

• Onkyo: (June 2014){{cite news |title=Onkyo and 7digital to Launch high-res Music Store in Europe and US

• Spanish Broadcasting System: (September 2014){{cite news |access-date=2 December 2014}}

• Panasonic: (November 2014){{cite web |access-date=21 September 2015}} They shut down the Service in 2019.

• Samsung: for Music Hub version 1.0.{{cite news |access-date=2 December 2014}} Replaced nu by 2.0 and 3.0 dependent on the territory that the handset was designated for. In 2012 with the launch of Samsung Galaxy S3 devices in Europe and North America the Music Hub has begun to include subscription streaming alongside their music downloads. 7digital pre-install is also available on Samsung Galaxy S4.

• BlackBerry: (initially 2010, then for their OS 7 devices)

  • subsequently for Blackberry 10 users.{{cite news |access-date=2 December 2014}}{{cite news
  • 2012: service to run on their new OS (QNX){{cite news|title=RIM taps 7Digital to power official BB10 music store

HMV

7digital is independent of their business since significant investment they received in 2012. Re-launched in October 2013, HMVdigital.com is a download store.

Ubuntu One Music Store/Canonical

7digital collaborated with Canonical Ltd. to provide the Ubuntu One Music Store in the Ubuntu Operating System starting from Ubuntu 10.04.

On 2 April 2014 Canonical announced the closure of all of the Ubuntu One file services.

Spotify

Spotify users from the UK, France, Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands and Sweden were able to purchase tracks to download (if available) from 7digital in 2009. This was done by right-clicking and selecting the 'Buy From' link. However, Spotify launched their own purchase service during 2011 which replaced 7digital.

Other

In October 2014, it was announced that 7digital would work with will.i.am for his new wearable smart device.

In November 2014, 7digital partners Technics launched 'Technics Tracks', a new premium Hi-Resolution audio service.

7digital.com

Alongside its B2B digital music services business, 7digital offers music tracks direct to consumers in MQA, MP3 320, 256, M4A, 16-bit and 24-bit FLAC audio.

The 7digital mobile app has been pre-installed on devices through partnerships with Acer, HTC, Samsung, BlackBerry, Pioneer, HP, Dell, and Sonos.

7digital's Indiestore launched in early 2006 and allowed unsigned artists and independent labels create their own digital music download store for free. The Indiestore was discontinued in 2010. 7digital directs independent artists to work with independent aggregators, where they will be able to service their music to a variety of music retailers.

In December 2014, 7digital became the first music platform to adopt Meridian Audio's high-quality MQA format for streaming/downloads.

Geographical availability

As of July 2015, 7digital operated in 82 countries. On May 19, 2017, 7digital announced the sudden closure of its EU store, though it continued to have stores for some individual European nations. As of 2023, the service is still available in 20 countries.

References

References

1. Ackerman, Naomi. (9 July 2021). "7digital signs deals with Barrys and Volava as it pursues the home fitness market". [[The Evening Standard]].
2. Cirisano, Tatiana. (12 August 2020). "Triller signs contract with 7digital, adding 80 million song catalog for users to soundtrack clips".
3. (2023-02-08). "Songtradr to acquire 7digital, a UK publicly listed B2B music technology company, in $23.4m deal".
4. Barnett, Emma. (9 October 2009). "7digital was always meant to be a complete media marketplace".
5. (28 January 2008). "7digital Agrees Terms of $8.5 Million Investment to Capitalise on Rising Digital Media Demand". 7digital.
6. Gibson, Owen. (28 January 2008). "UK iTunes rival 7digital to hit US and Europe". The Guardian.
7. Schofield, Jack. (16 September 2008). "7digital brings more DRM-free MP3 music downloads to the UK". [[The Guardian]].
8. "7digital Group Plc – story of the company".
9. (3 September 2009). "HMV takes 50% stake in 7digital". BBC.
10. Houghton, Bruce. (6 June 2012). "7digital Expands U.S. Team With Key Hires From eMusic, Apple, IODA, Rightsflow".
11. "Music Platform 7digital Nabs $10 Million in Funding To Expand Its Profitable Activities".
12. Lunden, Ingrid. (25 November 2013). "Samsung's Music Partner 7digital Picks Up $1.6M Loan, Enters into Reverse Takeover Talks With UBC". TechCrunch.
13. "7digital boss says HMV administration will not affect business".
14. (25 November 2013). "UBC Media to buy 7digital Group". [[Yahoo! Finance]].
15. Deans, Jason. (25 November 2013). "7Digital lines up reverse takeover of UBC Media". [[The Guardian]].
16. Cooke, Chris. (21 May 2014). "7digital merger with UBC complete". [[Complete Music Update]].
17. Sanchez, Daniel. (10 April 2019). "7digital Death Watch – Company Warns Against Raising Desperately-Needed Capital". [[Digital Music News]].
18. "Musical.ly Strikes Deal With 7digital". Music Ally.
19. "7digital to power eMusic".
20. Malt, Andy. (11 June 2014). "Guvera partners with 7digital".
21. Cooke, Chris. (10 November 2014). "Guvera launches in India". [[Complete Music Update]].
22. "Onkyo Music".
23. "Technics TRACKS {{!}} Technics Deutschland & Österreich".
24. Owen, Ed. (2 August 2012). "7Digital and Samsung Team Up for Free Music Streaming". Mobile Marketing.
25. Pakinkis, Tom. (15 March 2013). "7digital to be pre-installed on Samsung Galaxy S4". [[Music Week]].
26. (December 2014). "7digital to power HMV's digital music services in Canada". Music Week.
27. (December 2014). "UbuntuOne Music Store: How a music service should be". Tech Republic.
28. Silber, Jane. (2 April 2014). "Shutting down Ubuntu One file services". [[Canonical Ltd..
29. MacLean, Allan. (11 April 2009). "Spotify's free music model — binge until your ears are fat!". Daily Music Guide.
30. (December 2014). "7digital Founder: Spotify has been planning its own download service for over a year". The Next Web.
31. White, Anna. (12 October 2014). "Will.i.am to go head to head with Apple in smart watch battle". [[The Daily Telegraph.
32. http://about.7digital.com/news/technics-launches-%E2%80%98technics-tracks%E2%80%99-new-premium-hi-resolution-audio-service. (November {{Webarchive). link. (4 March 2016 2014)
33. Lamkin, Paul. (10 August 2011). "7digital targets audiophiles with FLAC Format downloads". Pocket-lint.
34. Sawers, Paul. (10 December 2012). "7digital's MP3 download app will come pre-installed on Acer's Windows 8 machines". The Next Web.
35. Murphy, David. (19 April 2013). "7digital Apps Gets HTC One Preload". Mobile Marketing Magazine.
36. (5 December 2012). "7digital Brings High Quality Music into the Dashboard Through the Pioneer AppRadio Platform". Racepoint Group UK.
37. Hartley, Adam. (5 June 2008). "Unsigned indie bands find fame with 7digital: 7digital's indiestore features over 50,000 indie artists". [[TechRadar]].
38. (15 January 2011). "More free mp3s".
39. (5 June 2008). "Unsigned indie bands find fame with 7digital".
40. (December 2014). "7digital announces high quality audio strategy with new Meridian MQA format".
41. "7digital inks Pan-African deal with SA collection society CAPASSO".
42. [https://eu.7digital.com/features/WRLfEScAAOaLHKrn/eu-store-closure]{{Dead link. (September 2018)