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.”