7digital Powers Samsung’s GALAXY Tab Music Service

London, England, 20th October 2010 – 7digital, the leading digital media company, and Samsung, the consumer electronics global leader have partnered to develop a unique digital music experience on the new Samsung GALAXY Tab. Developed using 7digital’s API, the native music application enables users to easily search, discover, preview, purchase and download tracks via the store’s powerful user interface. The store is optimised for the GALAXY Tab’s 7-inch screen and Android 2.2 operating system.

The Samsung GALAXY Tab with the Music Hub Powered by 7digital

“The partnership with 7digital has enabled Samsung to create a digital music experience tailored to meet the needs of GALAXY Tab users,” according to Samsung.  “The power of 7digital’s open APIs combined with their extensive music catalogue instantly gives  GALAXY Tab users access to one of the most comprehensive music services in the world, allowing  them to quickly and easily search, discover, preview and purchase tracks and albums directly on their GALAXY Tab.”

     The store application will be pre-installed on devices in 30 European countries and North America.  Tracks are available in the MP3 format with the standard format being 320kbps MP3.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital, comments: “Our partnership with Samsung in the creation of the music service on the incredible new GALAXY Tab illustrates the flexibility of 7digital’s open technology and geographical reach. The deep integration of our APIs within the GALAXY Tab music application, combined with our extensive catalogue of MP3 music, provides a fantastic user experience that makes it simple to discover and purchase music.”

7digital’s open API provides partners with the flexibility to explore and develop not only new digital music services, but also across all digital media, including video, documents and ebooks.  7digital partnerships include some of the leading pioneers in the digital entertainment space, including Spotify, Last.fm, Songbird and Winamp to provide integrated purchasing solutions.  The 7digital entertainment ecosystem allows partners to experiment with new digital distribution and purchasing models, across multiple platforms and devices, ranging from download stores to streaming services, PC-based services to mobile and other connected devices.

The Echo Nest and 7digital Partner to Offer Developers a DIY Online Music Store Platform

Somerville, MA and London, UK, September 2, 2010 – Today, The Echo Nest and 7digital announced a partnership that brings together The Echo Nest’s intelligent music application development platform with 7digital’s open API, extensive MP3 catalogue and comprehensive international rights. The combined offering will give developers instant access to The Echo Nest’s one-of-a-kind music intelligence APIs based on 7digital’s catalog and the ability to sell over 10,000,000 songs across 32 territories in Europe and North America.

Somerville, MA and London, UK, September 2, 2010 – Today, The Echo Nest and 7digital announced a partnership that brings together The Echo Nest’s intelligent music application development platform with 7digital’s open API, extensive MP3 catalogue and comprehensive international rights.  The combined offering will give developers instant access to The Echo Nest’s one-of-a-kind music intelligence APIs based on 7digital’s catalog and the ability to sell over 10,000,000 songs across 32 territories in Europe and North America.

Developers will be able to create innovative new music retail websites and music applications with the full suite of music data APIs at developer.echonest.com including artist and song similarity, song attributes (tempo, key, etc) and news feeds along with access to 7digital’s album art, preview clips and sales fulfillment for over 10 million songs.  Developers will earn affiliate revenue from every MP3 sold through their applications.  The companies will unveil the new developer offering at the London Music Hack Day, to be held September 4 and 5 at the Guardian offices in London.  

Ben Drury, 7digital CEO, said “We are very excited to be partnering with one of the most innovative development platforms in the world.  The driving ethos behind the 7digital API is to provide developers with an open platform that allows experimentation and the creation of exciting new music and entertainment services. We hope our partnership with The Echo Nest will help facilitate the emergence of fresh and innovative ideas that will help shape the future of how fans interact with music.”

Jim Lucchese, CEO of The Echo Nest, said, “Application developers are the future of the music business.  Both 7digital and The Echo Nest are committed to helping developers create amazing new music experiences and commercialize them.  This partnership makes it much easier for a talented developer to go from a great idea to a fully-licensed commercial music application.”

7digital Music Store for Blackberry – Version 1.4 released

Version 1.4.5 of the 7digital Music Store for Blackberry has been released. We now support 24 BlackBerry smartphones in 6 languages across 31 countries.

Version 1.4.5 of the 7digital Music Store for Blackberry has been released. We now support 24 BlackBerry smartphones in 6 languages across 31 countries. Key updates include:

•         New: Support for Torch 9800 smartphone
•         New: Support for Curve 9300 smartphone
•         New: Support for Pearl 3G 91xx series smartphones
•         New: Universal search support on OS 6.0
•         New: Filter support on Storm series smartphones
•         New: Last.fm recommendations on hi-res devices
•         New: Launch shortcut from built-in media player
•         New: Integrated Sign-up and Add Card screens
•         Improved: More featured content on hi-res devices
•         Improved: Battery performance on OS 4.6 devices
•         Improved: 7digital download performance
•         Improved: My Music album art handling
•         Other minor fixes & improvements

For further information and to download the 7digital Music Store app directly from the Blackberry App World

HMV to launch brand new hmvdigital music downloads store

HMV's brand new digital music service, hmvdigital, officially launches this Monday 26th July 2010. The download service, which has been in beta testing since March, was built and is powered by HMV's digital partner 7digital – a leading digital media delivery company operating both consumer and B2B services for digital music, video and ebooks.

The download service, which has been in beta testing since March, was built and is powered by HMV’s digital partner 7digital – a leading digital media delivery company operating both consumer and B2B services for digital music, video and ebooks.

The new platform operates from its own stand-alone site at www.hmvdigital.com, though it can also be accessed via a link from HMV’s online store at hmv.com, thus giving customers the widest possible access.

The download store incorporates 7digital’s cutting-edge technology – currently being used to great effect by the likes of Spotify and Blackberry. The new hmvdigital service is now faster and easier to use.  It comes with much-enhanced search capabilities, increased content of up to 10m tracks, and a host of innovative features that result in a far more intuitive and engaging customer experience.

The new service is fully compatible across Mac and PC, and one of its stand-out features is its unique Download Manager, which, crucially, enables users to automatically synch purchases with their iTunes library or their Windows Media Player.  

Other design features include in-depth search navigation that displays artist output by track and by album via a ‘drop-down’ panel; a recommendations function that lists the most popular/purchased music downloads according to the genre the user is in, and which also enables the user to ‘recommend to a friend’; and greater use of sleeve imagery that really helps to bring the page and content to life.

There are further innovations to hmvdigital in the shape of a pre-order facility – an option previously only available with physical purchases online, while users can also buy a download as a gift for someone else.  Another benefit, not always available on rival services, is a re-downloadable facility – hmvdigital will keep a history of its customers’ download purchases – so if a user’s PC crashes, hmvdigital can replace any lost tracks at no additional cost to them.

The new digital service launches next week with a number of fantastic price-led offers and promotions.  These will be supported by an online viral campaign and via promotional activity on hmv.com.  

Key launch offers – all for a strictly limited period include:       

•     Download any 5 tracks for free as part of the viral campaign – highly limited offer on a strictly first-come-first-served basis (via a voucher code when you register). Normally 79p-99p each.
•     Top 40 chart tracks at just 40p – again, a limited-period offer.  Normally 79p-99p.
•     Chart albums from £4.99 – lead titles incl. Alicia Keys The Element of Freedom (£4.99), Kylie Minogue Aphrodite (£5.99) and Gorillaz Plastic Beach (£3.99). Normally all around £7.99.
•     Hot Offers – recent chart titles from £4.99.
•     Greatest Hits ‘iPod fillers’ from £4.99 – classic ‘best of’ albums including Abba Gold, Michael Jackson Essential and Bob Marley Legend to help build your collection. Normally all around £7.99.
•     Artist of the Month: Eminem (August) – Mr. Marshall Mathers’ back catalogue is offered at just £4.99 each, including The Slim Shady LP and Curtain Call (nb. excludes ‘Recovery’).

Sarah Hughes, HMV’s Head of Online and Digital, comments: “We are delighted to launch a world class download store that reflects both HMV’s music retailing heritage and our strategy to be a broad-based
entertainment brand. Our partners at 7digital have built for us a significantly improved new site that looks great and has never been easier to use.  With so many innovative and wonderful features, it offers a truly intuitive and engaging customer experience that I very much hope will lead to HMV becoming a bigger player in the burgeoning digital market.”

Ben Drury, CEO 7digital adds: “We’re really excited to be bringing 7digital’s powerful digital music technology platform together with the HMV brand.  Our deep catalogue of over 10 million high-quality MP3 tracks combined with innovations such as our download manager now makes it easier for HMV customers to discover, buy and listen to music through the Internet.”

Ben Drury member of Panel at British Music Experience and Music Week Launch Debate

London, March 2010: Music Week and the British Music Experience are joining forces to launch a series of debates about the music industry.

London, March 2010: Music Week and the British Music Experience are joining forces to launch a series of debates about the music industry.  

The first event entitled, ‘Tomorrow Never Knows: Music Consumption and its Impacts’, will be held at the British Music Experience on Thursday 29th April at 7.30pm. The debate will consider current models and trends, their impacts on artists, the industry and consumers, as well as likely future outcomes. Music Week editor Paul Williams, will chair an influential panel featuring:

•     Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi – Pirate Bay, Co-Founder
•     Guy Moot – EMI Music Publishing, UK President and European Creative President
•     Jeremy Silver – Featured Artist Coalition, Chief Executive
•     Geoff Taylor – BPI, Chief Executive
•     Paul Brindley – Music Ally, Chief Executive
•     Ben Drury – 7 Digital, Founder
•     Stephen Godfroy – Rough Trade, Retail Director
•     William Higham – The Next Big Thing, Founder
•     David Stopps – MMF and the IMMF, Director of Copyright & Related Rights
•     Will Page – PRS, Chief Economist

The debate series will fall within the British Music Experience’s charitable and educational remit and will explore the key issues facing the music industry.

Tickets for the event on April 29th are available via the British Music Experience website – www.britishmusicexperience.com/debate – and will be allocated on a ballot system.

Paul Lilley, curator of the British Music Experience, commented “We’re delighted to be launching this exciting series with Music Week to focus attention on the key issues facing the industry. The BME has quickly become the home of our musical heritage, and these sessions will also ensure that it remains topical and on the front line.”

7digital and Imerge partnership delivers next generation music experience for high-end entertainment systems

London, England, 31st March 2010 – 7digital, the leading digital media company, and Imerge, the pioneer of hard disk home entertainment servers, announce the launch of the Imerge XiVA Music Store - a next-generation online music store for high-end entertainment systems.

London, England, 31st March 2010 – 7digital, the leading digital media company, and Imerge, the pioneer of hard disk home entertainment servers, announce the launch of the Imerge XiVA Music Store – a next-generation online music store for high-end entertainment systems.

Developed using 7digital’s Premium API, the XiVA music store enables users to search, discover, preview, purchase and download tracks via the store’s unique, graphically rich on-screen interface.  The store will be integrated into Imerge’s media server hardware, enabling users to purchase and download content direct to their home entertainment systems, without accessing a web browser or computer. Once downloaded via a simple purchasing system, the new content is automatically added to the user’s music library and may be accessed from anywhere in the home.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital, comments: “Our partnership with Imerge in the creation of the XiVA music service illustrates the flexibility of 7digital’s open technology.  The deep integration of our API within the XiVA music service, combined with our extensive catalogue of MP3 music, provides a fantastic user experience that makes it simple to discover and purchase music.”  Drury continues, “The XiVA music store is another example of what can be achieved when an innovative technology company adopts 7digital’s powerful API to either create an exciting and ground breaking service or enhance existing services through the integration of our purchasing engine”.

Cameron Wade, CEO of Imerge, adds: “We all know that downloading media content direct to consumers’ homes is the future, but the concept of purchasing, receiving and storing digital media via dedicated entertainment devices, as opposed to computers, is still in its infancy. As you might expect from the company that developed the very first audio server component in the 1990s, Imerge has taken a giant leap forward with the XiVA Music Store, delivering a unique content browsing and purchasing experience. As ever, Imerge’s dedication to innovation ensures we stay several steps ahead of the competition.”

7digital’s open API provides partners with the flexibility to explore and develop not only new digital music services, but also across all digital media, including video, documents and ebooks.  7digital partnerships include some of the leading pioneers in the digital entertainment space, including Spotify, Last.fm, Songbird and Winamp to provide integrated purchasing solutions.  Drury said ‘7digital is in a unique position within the marketplace.  Our emerging digital entertainment ecosystem permits partners to experiment with new digital distribution and purchasing models, across different formats and platforms, ranging from download stores to streaming services, PC-based services to mobile and wireless”.

The XiVA music store goes live in the UK and USA on 30th March 2010, with other territories to follow. The first Imerge media server component to deliver access to the service is the newly launched MS1-HD – Imerge’s flagship, Full HD audio/video server system, the most advanced of its kind.  More information is available from Imerge, visit www.imerge.co.uk.

7digital Links With Last.fm For New Version Of BlackBerry App

London, England, 22nd February 2010 – 7digital, a leading digital media company, today announces a new version of its award winning BlackBerry App.

London, England, 22nd February 2010 – 7digital, a leading digital media company, today announces a new version of its award winning BlackBerry App.

The latest release, version 1.2, features integration with Last.fm. Users can now link their Last.fm account to 7digital’s BlackBerry App, allowing them to scrobble played tracks in real time. This permits Last.fm to update a user’s recommendations based on their mobile listening habits. The ‘Now Playing’ status is also updated on a user’s Last.fm profile, showing what they are listening to at any given time on their BlackBerry smartphone.

Additional new features to the 7digital App include:

• Enhanced 7digital store artist search
• Support for the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone
• Netherlands store support and localisation with local artist tracks and albums
• Additional country access for 15 European countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.

Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital, comments “With this latest release we are bringing the BlackBerry music experience to users in over 20 European countries, as well as North America and Canada.  With the Last.fm integration the App is moving beyond a simple download store and becoming a more complete music platform for the user.”

Other upgrades to the service include media card encryption support, improved My Locker refresh performance and the ability to download greater volumes of data through improved carrier network support.

The App has already proven popular with BlackBerry users, having been downloaded over 200,000 times since launch, winning the BlackBerry Developer Challenge & BlackBerry EMEA Innovation Award, Entertainment in 2009 and is a finalist in the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix, part of the Global Mobile Awards at Mobile World Congress on 16th February 2010.  The App was developed using 7digital’s Application Programming Interface (API) by DevelopIQ.

Visit www.7digital.com/bb for more information and to download the app.

7digital.com Announces Full Integration with Winamp

Los Angeles, CA – March 15th, 2010 – LSI – 7digital.com, the digital media delivery company, today announced a strategic partnership with Winamp, one of the world's leading free media players. Winamp has integrated the 7digital.com music store providing more than 73 million users worldwide* one-click purchase from 7digital.com's catalog of more than six million high-quality MP3 tracks. The 7digital.com store is live for all US and UK Winamp users and will roll out across Europe in April 2010.

Winamp users can now purchase tracks and albums from their favorite artists through 7digital.com‘s extensive music catalogue

Los Angeles, CA – March 15th, 2010 – LSI – 7digital.com, the digital media delivery company, today announced a strategic partnership with Winamp, one of the world’s leading free media players. Winamp has integrated the 7digital.com music store providing more than 73 million users worldwide* one-click purchase from 7digital.com’s catalog of more than six million high-quality MP3 tracks. The 7digital.com store is live for all US and UK Winamp users and will roll out across Europe in April 2010.

“We are pleased to be partnering with one of the most experienced brands in the digital music industry,” said Ben Drury, CEO of 7digital.com. “By integrating with Winamp’s music player, 7digital.com gives users access to fast high-quality MP3 downloads, as well as a new and convenient alternative for purchasing music.”

Winamp uses 7digital.com’s open application programming interface (API) to provide a premier music download experience. Using the open API, Winamp pulls data – such as artist, track and album – from 7digital.com’s storefront to create a fully seamless music store experience.

“7digital.com’s API has enabled us to partner and build a great service in Winamp that makes it so easy and convenient to buy and download music without leaving the media player,” said Geno Yoham, Executive Director of Winamp.  “This ability to add tracks directly to your Winamp music library, completes the robust music discovery experience within Winamp and we believe will be a great value for our users.”

The Winamp music player is available now, and can be downloaded at http://www.winamp.com/