7digital Blog

7digital, today announced Radiohead’s latest album, The King of Limbs, is available exclusively for download in the high definition 24-bit FLAC audio format from 7digital.com.

The album will be available from 7digital stores across 32 territories in the high-quality FLAC (free lossless audio codec) 24-bit format. The release is the first time a new album from a major artist has been released in this high quality format, and is the first step in 7digital’s move towards higher quality digital music downloads.

This deluxe digital version will also include a 16-bit FLAC and AAC 320kbps version of the album. This allows easy sync and playback on music devices that do not support FLAC format, such as Apple’s iPod.

Ben Drury, CEO 7digital comments, “We support listener choice and strive to offer our customers the highest quality music downloads possible. That’s why we’re pioneering the move towards higher quality audio formats that offer higher quality music than the CD equivalents.

“The Radiohead album, produced by Nigel Godrich was recorded in 24-bit digital audio and it’s great listeners will now be able to download and hear the album in the quality it was recorded at. “Films, television, and visual media have all moved towards higher quality HD formats, and the 24-bit FLAC format is essentially ‘FLAC HD’. The release of Radiohead’s album is the first new release from a major artist, and we’ll be extensively supporting FLAC and FLAC 24-bit going forward.”

The King of Limbs will be available in the high quality FLAC 24-bit format in 32 territories including the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Austria.

What is FLAC? – Learn more here.
• The Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is an open source audio compression format.
• Unlike other popular audio compression formats, such as MP3 and AAC, sound quality is not reduced during digital compression of tracks.
• FLAC files are higher quality than equivalent MP3 files, and can be encoded at 16-bit or 24-bit. This refers to the quality of the digitised analogue signal. Music encoded on CDs is 16-bit quality.
• 24-bit quality recordings are higher quality, making for a clearer sound so every note and instrument can be heard.
• FLAC files can be played on a range of devices including Sony’s Playstation Portable, Samsung Galaxy S, SanDisk media players, BlackBerry smartphones and LogiTech Squeezebox models.
• The format is also compatible with a variety of media players, including Winamp and Songbird.
The deluxe digital album is available from today (28th March 2011) at www.7digital.com in the UK priced at £8.99.

SXSW 2011 was a busy seven days for 7digital!
VP of North America Vickie Nauman attended both the Interactive and Music portion of SXSW and had the great pleasure of talking to start ups, consumer electronics companies RIM and Toshiba, artist-to-fan services, live performance social apps, music discovery services, gaming companies, and streaming services who are all using the 7digital platform. “Music has become so complex that it doesn’t make sense for most companies to do their own licensing or set up a secure platform, especially if they want a broad international service. All of these innovative companies are instead focusing on creating their own best in class user experience, and relying on 7digital’s API to take care of the rest,” Nauman commented.

Once the Music portion of SXSW began, Nauman was joined by Anna Siegel, who manages the US and Canadian 7digital.com stores. She met with labels and artists throughout the week and had the opportunity to film interviews and performances for the site. SXSW Music always proves to be a spectacular setting for new music discovery, particularly fostered by the label and distributor day showcases of new artists. Recorded music was not forgotten by Sony Music Group, who invited 7digital for a lovely preview listening session of their exciting upcoming releases. 7digital partnered up with the UK Trade and Investment to host an official SXSWi showcase at the British Music Embassy and enjoyed a Great British Breakfast in Austin. While the interactive portion of the festival continues to outgrow the music portion – bringing many new faces and discussions to the event – companies that bridge the two fields are finding new ways to interact with potential partners and existing contacts. This was encouraged by two very successful music tech meet-ups held by Rdio and Topspin. Jack White was out and about promoting the legacy of physical album sales through his mobile records store van, spotted by the 7digital team one late night in Austin.

Vickie Nauman spoke on two panels – one SXSW Interactive panel with British innovator ARM, discussing the future of mobile payments, and another called “Music Plus Devices – What Works?” during SXSW Music, which included representatives from Toshiba, Sonos, and Qualcomm. This was a great discussion about the importance and complexity around enabling music in your favorite laptop, smart phone, or tablet. With these panel speakers we heard examples of what it takes to make a successful partnership between digital content services, mobile, car and home devices, and platforms in a positive discussion about the future of the music business.

Quote from Brian Foster (Sr Mgr Business Dev, Alliances Mktg Toshiba America) during the panel, “There are three criteria for a good partnership between a consumer electronics and a music company – First, you need a solution consumers want – and people want music. Second, you want to work with a company that is well-established in the market – 7digital is working with Toshiba in all of our key territories. Third, you want a partner with a lot of proven experience and expertise.”

Link to Music Plus Devices audio: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MP6721
Vickie Nauman’s panelist profile: http://sxsw.com/node/6744

Vickie’s favorite live performances of SXSW 2011: The Black Angels (big dark rock sound from Austin TX), The Soundtrack of our Lives (Sweden), Bright Light Social Hour (amazing 20 year olds from Austin channeling psychedelic garage rock), supremely infectious performers Fitz and the Tantrums (from Silver Lake’s Dangerbird Records), The Naked and Famous (New Zealand), Alejandro Escovedo and his full orchestra, DeVotchKa in the new ACL Live hall, Duff McKagan’s acoustic set, North Mississippi All Stars, Charles Bradley, Surfer Blood, Chapel Club, Jonquil, and finally… a brand new discovery, San Diego’s Dynamite Walls.

Anna’s favorite live performances of SXSW 2011: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Yuck, Dirty Beaches, La Sera, Charles Bradley, Toro Y Moi, Chikita Violenta (Mexico), Francisca Valenzuela (Chile), Bun B w. Erykah Badu, James Blake (UK), Mother Mother (Canada), The Chapin Sisters, Khaira Arby (Mali) and Charles Bradley.

London, UK and Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and 7digital today announced that the 7digital Music Store will come pre-installed* on the BlackBerry® PlayBook™.

The 7digital Music Store will give BlackBerry PlayBook users access to 7digital’s catalogue of over 13 million high quality (320kbps) MP3s. BlackBerry PlayBook users will be able to search for tracks, albums and artists and preview tracks before making a purchase. Users can also discover new music through 7digital’s recommendation technology. Prices for BlackBerry PlayBook users will match the prices on 7digital.com, with individual tracks and albums priced in a customer’s local currency.

Ben Drury, CEO 7digital comments, “We’re really excited to be working with RIM to bring the 7digital experience to the BlackBerry PlayBook. RIM has created an incredible tablet with premium multimedia features and together we are delivering a truly exceptional music experience for mobile users, offering content that is extremely easy to discover, purchase and use.

“We currently have the largest international footprint of any MP3 digital music seller and we look forward to expanding our business with RIM throughout the year.”

“The 7digital Music Store is a perfect complement to the high-performance BlackBerry PlayBook, providing users with fast searches and downloads, and a slick interface that makes it very easy to discover, purchase and enjoy music,” said Alistair Mitchell, Vice President, BBM Platform & Integrated Services. “We are thrilled to be working with 7digital to provide BlackBerry PlayBook users with access to an amazing catalog of 13 million tracks.”

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet running the 7digital Music Store application will be previewed this week at the South by South West conference in Austin, Texas.