| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music, Video, Ebooks |
| Founded | January 2004 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Area served | United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, USA, Canada, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Singapore |
| Key people | Ben Drury, James Kane |
| Services | www.7digital.com, Media Distribution, API |
| Employees | 60 |
| Website | Corporate Site |
7digital is a privately held digital media delivery company based in the United Kingdom, offering downloadable music, video and movies to customers primarily within major European markets. They also provide branded digital solutions for their clients, including traditional media companies such as ITV and Channel Five, brands such as Pringles and Miller, and social networking sites Last.FM & Bebo. The company is also notable for its involvement with War Child, for whom they provide the technology behind Warchild Music.
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The company was founded in January 2004 by Ben Drury and James Kane, who currently serve as Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer respectively. The company was originally backed by Balderton Capital, the European arm of venture capital firm Benchmark Capital who also provided initial financing for eBay.
On 28 January 2008 the company announced that it had agreed terms on a £4.25 million ($8.5 million) investment from various groups, including Sutton Place Managers and Balderton Capital. The investment was to be used to launch www.7digital.com in more European countries and the United States,[1] along with expanding the sites offerings to include downloadable video and computer games.[2]
On 3 August 2009 HMV announced that it had bought a 50% stake in 7digital buying out the venture capital firms for £7.7m in cash, stating that 7digital will become HMV's supplier for all of its digital operations, including a new e-books website for its Waterstone's brand.
7digital.com is an online digital music store, one of the UK's first when launched in 2004.[2] Consumers can purchase music, audiobooks, comedy shows and videos (including documentaries, independent films and music videos). As of December 2011[update], more than 17 million tracks are available, all without DRM restrictions.[3]
The site has secured exclusive deals with major artists. Examples include:
7digital has launched regional versions of 7digital.com in United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and intends to continue expanding into other countries.
| Store | EMI | Sony | Universal | Warner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ireland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| France | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spain | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Austria | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Switzerland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Belgium | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Netherlands | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Portugal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Italy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| US | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Canada | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sweden | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Norway | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Finland | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Spotify users from the UK, France, Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands and Sweden were able to purchase tracks to download (if available) from 7digital.[9] This was done by right-clicking in Windows, or control-clicking in Mac OS X, and selecting the 'Buy From' link. However Spotify launched their own purchase service during 2011 which replaced 7digital.
Songbird, the open source audio player and web browser, uses 7digital as its music store of choice. The two are tightly integrated so that purchases from 7digital are automatically downloaded to the Songbird library.[10] The service is also able to generate recommendations based on a user's songbird library.
Launched in early 2006, Indiestore lets unsigned artists and independent labels create their own digital music download store for free. There is also an enhanced paid version, allowing for more tracks, greater revenue sharing and other features. indiestore reports sales through these sites to chart compiling organisations in over 20 countries. In the United Kingdom this led to the first single by an unsigned artist (Koopa) appearing in the Top 40 through download sales alone. More than 95% percent of the Koopa's single's chart eligible sales were made via Indiestore or 7digital.com.[11]
As of 20 September 2010, the Indiestore has been discontinued.[12]
7digital is collaborating with Canonical Ltd. to provide the Ubuntu One Music Store in the Ubuntu Operating System starting from Ubuntu 10.04.[13]