7digital Blog

It was interesting to read the latest news from Amazon regarding the launch of a HTML5 version of the MP3 music store, specifically aimed at those using Apple mobile devices. Interesting for two reasons; Amazon seems about two years off the pace, and it’s a departure from the lock-in Kindle/ebook strategy.

Apple has always been a strict master of the App Store, and upset a number of content holders back in February 2011 when it introduced a 30% ‘tax ’ on all digital content purchased through apps on an Apple device. Many looked at alternatives to avoid the 30% fee, as it made the slim margins on digital content impossible for some publishers to work with. Almost two years later, it seems Amazon has caught up with its HTML5 mobile site.

At 7digital, we launched a similar mobile site (m.7digital.com) in February 2011. Unlike Amazon, our HTML5 store was not solely aimed at Apple users. Of course music fans can easily browse and purchase music through their iPad or iPhone on the site, but back then it was an early hint of where we saw the market going.

Even two years ago we were sure music was heading to mobile. We were right.

Over two thirds of 7digital purchases now happen through a mobile device, and this number is only going to get bigger. Since we introduced the mobile store we’ve built more 7digital apps, including an iOS app, so everyone has easy access to high quality digital music on any device – whether we have a dedicated app or not.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 at 11:01 am and is filed under Apps, B2C services, Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.