7digital.com reports Q4 sales up more than 260%

•     Over 1.6 million customers now buying MP3s from 7digital.com
•     Q4 sales up more than 260% driven by MP3 album sales
•     Digital albums sale revenue expected to overtake single track downloads in 2009
•     7digital announces further European expansion: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland launches.

Midem, Cannes, France and London, UK, 19th January 09 -  7digital.com, the home of MP3, today announces a massive increase in the sales of digital music following the introduction of DRM-free MP3 downloads from all four major record labels in September last year. Sales on 7digital.com have nearly tripled in Q4 2008 vs. Q4 2007.

Improved availability of music downloads in the MP3 format has increased demand for digital music. In September last year 7digital.com became the first download service in Europe to offer downloads from all four major labels in the MP3 format.

“The transition to MP3 has really boosted digital album sales – with high-quality MP3 consumers are more likely to purchase albums, rather than picking one or two tracks from an album" comments Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital.com. "The combination of MP3s at 320kbps, great prices and our easy-to-use service has driven our registered customer base to over 1.6 million”

In addition to the record sales increases, 7digital.com also experienced strong growth from the Euro zone. As a result, 7digital.com continues its European expansion today with the availability of its service in three more European countries – Belgium, Netherlands (pricing in Euros) and Switzerland (pricing in Swiss Francs) with multiple languages catered for.

“We've experienced strong growth in Europe during 2008 and we're very excited to be rolling out our MP3 service to more European countries today. We continue to work hard to secure the rights we need to expand further. This is an Internet business and our goal is to provide a global service for anyone on the web” concludes Drury.

“We also expect digital album revenue to soon overtake single track download revenue reflecting changing consumer habits driven by the adoption of high-quality DRM-free music.”

The top selling album artists in 2008 include Kings Of Leon, Duffy and The Last Shadow Puppets.  

Top 10 MP3 albums for 2008

   1. Kings Of Leon "Only By The Night"
   2. Coldplay "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends"
   3. The Last Shadow Puppets "The Age Of The Understatement"
   4. Coldplay "Prospekt's March EP"
   5. The Killers "Day & Age"
   6. Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy"
   7. Snow Patrol "A Hundred Million Suns"
   8. Duffy "Rockferry"
   9. Noah and the Whale "Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down"
  10. Sigur Rós "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust"