7digital Blog

Ah, l’Amour… The source of life’s greatest joys and deepest sorrows; a force of nature so mysterious it’s inspired millions of magnificent songs; an emotion so universal that card companies have dedicated an entire day of every year to celebrating it… Whatever your thoughts on the Valentine’s Day phenomenon itself, February 14th is the perfect opportunity to luxuriate in a love song or twelve.

With that in mind, we asked our team to get in the mood for love and share what music comes to mind on Valentine’s Day. You can check out their eclectic (and sometimes questionable) choices below.

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love 7

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The Baltimore Ravens fought a good fight at the Superbowl last weekend but Beyonce was the big winner at 7digital:  downloads of her singles increased by over 200% during and after her performance in the Superbowl half-time programme.   The songs that she performed at the halftime show sold about 13 times more during the 24 hours post show compared to all of her other tracks (which sold about 3 times more than on an average day).   Beyonce’s most downloaded songs since the Super Bowl have been “Halo” and “Single Ladies“.

Superbowl Sunday is also the biggest day of the year for advertising and non-football fans even tune in to watch the latest batch of commercials.   With a 30 second slot costing around $3.5 – $4m it’s not surprising that these are some of the best adverts produced all year.   Normally people look at brand effectiveness as a measure of success but we looked at a different angle, which was analysing the power of music in these commercials.   Our results were very interesting!

• “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones was first released in 1968 and is featured in the Mercedes Benz commercial.  It’s had over 5.7m views since it aired on youtube on January 30^th and a 600% increase in download sales.

• Another classic tune, Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” featured in the Budweiser ‘s “The Clydesdales: ‘Brotherhood’” and has seen a 500% increase in download sales with 10.4m youtube views since being posted on January 31^st.

• “I Wish” by Skee-lo featured in Toyota’s Wish Granted commercial saw an increase of 300% in download sales.

• And finally Psy’s “Gangham Style,” while still in the Top 10, has been in decline since the 2^nd week of January but saw a 10% uplift following his debute in the Get Crackin Wonderful Pistachio commercial.

We are going to be looking more closely at the power of music in adverts and on TV this year so stay tuned for more interesting posts.

lovefrom7

One of the few things guaranteed to pull us through the post-Christmas slump is checking out the up-and-coming musical talent set to make a splash in the next 12 months, and looking forward to big new albums from established acts.

Read more for our top tips for 2013 – broken down into bands, solo artists and producers – plus a selection of the best pre-orders at £5.

Our tip for the top:  AlunaGeorge

If we were in the betting business, we’d advise you to stick a pony this pair of Londoners being the breakthrough act of 2013. Let’s survey the evidence: they were nominated for the Brits’ ‘Critics’ Choice’ award, they’ve been long-listed for the BBC’s Sound of 2013 prize and they specialise in the kind of wonky, R&B-influenced, electro-pop that’s white-hot right now. If you’ve not had the pleasure yet, check out ‘Your Drums, Your Love’, ‘You Know You Like It’ or ‘Just A Touch’, and then join us in impatiently awaiting their full-length debut.

You can preview and download music by AlunaGeorge here.   

For a deeper dive into 7digital’s chart topping releases, we wanted to show how local markets are engaging with the world’s music.   Being available globally with dedicated stores in over 37 countries allows us to investigate interesting trends across territories and analyse music consumption similarities and differences.  We weren’t on a quest for industry shaking results but just to see how tastes are leaning these days. In this increasingly globalised world, where digital access breaks down boundaries for the average music lover, we must stay mindful of the importance of local content. Genre remains very subjective when you start to look at different countries’ data, however, for this analysis we looked at genres and music tastes per country. A new year’s resolution for 7digital will be to continue to look closely at this space for interesting changes and trends.

Interestingly enough, in all of the countries we looked at (except for the US), artists from the UK ranked very high.   This shows that international shoppers like us for our UK affiliation as well because our strong editorial often features artists from our home country.

In the UK pop and rock are the most popular with top artists evenly split between artists from the UK and the rest of the world.  For Ireland we see a more even split across all genres than other major markets with mostly UK and US artists.  In both countries compilation albums have sold very well.

In the US, hip hop/rap and pop are most popular and artists are almost exclusively US artists whereas with our friends to the north in Canada pop and pop/rock are most popular with predominantly US and UK artists.

In France no particular genre dominates the charts and there is a fairly even split between local artists and those from the US and UK.  In Luxembourg our customers prefer more electronic and R&B music than other markets.  Artists are mainly European (France & Germany) as well as from the US and UK.

In Germany no genre dominates and about a third of the best-selling artists are local.

In Spain we see predominantly local pop/Latin artists whereas in Italy rock and then pop are more popular, about evenly split between local and US/UK artists.

And that wraps up our summary!   Hope you have a great holiday and look out for our Who To Watch in 2013 post coming soon…

Lovefrom7

7digital has upgraded its flagship 7digital.com website to incorporate new HTML5 technology, including browser based music streaming.

A refreshed user interface and selected new features are available to 7digital customers globally from today. The upgraded site does not have all features enabled in all territories – the fully featured site will launch globally in February 2012.

New features to the 7digital.com site include:

• HTML5 audio technology for wide-ranging browser and device compatibility
• Upgraded user interface with an emphasis on page-loading and browsing speed
• New enhanced search engine
• New 7digital Player mode enables streaming of a user’s purchased 7digital music collection, allowing music lovers to listen to their music from any web browser in any location, as well as download. This feature is currently only available on preview to UK users, but will be available in other territories soon
• Updated 7digital Locker that continues to allow users to access and download / re-download their purchased 7digital music collection to a computer or mobile device through the 7digital Android, iPhone and BlackBerry apps.

We’ve seen significant growth in album and track sales during 2011, with Adele’s album 21 and song ‘Someone Like You’ leading the bestsellers lists.

In 2011, mobile sales accounted for 50% of 7digital downloads globally. The best selling artist of 2011 was Adele with her album 21 and track ‘Someone Like You’.  Red Hot Chili Peppers,  Coldplay and Snow Patrol also featured in the top 20 albums. A comprehensive list of the top 20 albums and tracks of 2011 is provided below.

Mobile growth has been driven by 7digital applications being pre-loaded on millions of devices from consumer electronics partners, including Samsung, RIM, Sony Ericsson, Philips and Toshiba. Updated 7digital apps for Android handsets and tablets, BlackBerry handsets and the launch of an HTML5 mobile site also contributed to mobile growth.

The coming months will see 7digital’s reach widen within the mobile space with the launch of a Windows phone app. A 7digital app for the iPhone, allowing users to sync purchased tracks with their device, also became available at the end of 2011.

Ben Drury, CEO 7digital comments, “We’ve seen another year of strong growth in 2011, especially from smartphone and tablet devices. Sales from mobile devices rose significantly year-on-year for the final two weeks of 2011, rising from approximately 10% in 2010 to 50% in 2011.”

“Our approach to be an open, agnostic digital content partner to the consumer electronics industry is really paying off. We know that consumers want access to their music collection on the device of their choice, anytime, anywhere and we’re helping enable that. 7digital’s catalogue of over 17 million high quality DRM-free MP3 tracks and open API platform mean we are an attractive partner for device manufacturers.”

Top 20 Albums 2011*

1. Adele – 21
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You
3. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
4. Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires
5. Rihanna – Loud
6. Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans
7. Elbow – build a rocket boys!
8. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
9. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
10. Beyoncé – 4
11. Ed Sheeran – +
12. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
13. Michael Bublé – Christmas
14. Lady GaGa – Born This Way
15. LMFAO – Sorry For Party Rocking
16. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV
17. Chase & Status – No More Idols
18. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
19. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
20. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

Top 20 Tracks 2011

1. Adele – Someone Like You
2. LMFAO / GoonRock / Lauren Bennett – Party Rock Anthem
3. Adele – Rolling In The Deep
4. Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer – Give Me Everything
5. Maroon 5 / Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
6. Rihanna / Calvin Harris – We Found Love
7. Lady GaGa – Born This Way
8. Bruno Mars – Grenade
9. Jennifer Lopez / Pitbull – On The Floor
10. LMFAO – Sexy And I Know It
11. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
12. Christina Perri – Jar Of Hearts
13. Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song
14. Rihanna – S&M
15. Jessie J / B.o.B. – Price Tag
16. Lady GaGa – The Edge Of Glory
17. Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta – Sweat (Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta)
18. Ed Sheeran – The A Team
19. Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks
20. Katy Perry – Firework

* Note: the lists provided reflect sales from across 7digital’s mobile applications and web-based global stores in 37 territories, which include the UK, US, Canada, Europe and Singapore.

7digital is powering MP3 downloads and access to a full catalog of major label and independent music in T Mobile’s digital storefront, the T-Mobile Mall, accessible on phones at store.t-mobile.com. T-Mobile Mall MP3s, as powered by 7digital, includes the following features:

• Millions of songs available from all four major labels (Sony, Universal,
Warner, and EMI) and dozens of independent labels
• Browse top albums and tracks, new releases and various genres
• High-quality MP3s
• Download high audio quality, DRM-free tracks and albums directly to
device with an option to buy now and download later to the device or
to another computer

“T-Mobile is a significant new partner for 7digital’s global business and we are very pleased to make available a full catalog of songs from all four major labels and leading independent labels to millions of T Mobile customers,” comments Vickie Nauman, Vice President North America for 7digital.

Through the use of 7digital’s platform, T-Mobile customers will have an optimized music experience in the browser and on devices. The full track music store was built using 7digital’s Application Programming Interface (API), designed to simplify the integration of music download sales into third party efforts.

“Music discovery is increasingly important for our customers, especially with the phenomenal growth of smartphones, and the T-Mobile Mall gives our customers a simple way to make music purchases so songs can be enjoyed directly on their phone or other connected devices,” said Torrie Dorrell, Vice President of Applications, Content and Games at T-Mobile USA.

The 7digital platform consists of a suite of global music rights and technology features, which are made available to partners through 7digital’s API. The API provides third parties with a simpler way to leverage fully licensed music to create a customized, best-in-class front-end experience.

Our brand new application allows Android tablet users in over 20 countries to access our catalogue of over 16 million high quality MP3 tracks. The layout has been optimised for tablets running the Android Honeycomb operating system, which mirrors the new 7digital online store design.

Homepage

The 7digital music store, now optimised for Android Honeycomb Tablets

The grid format display of the homepage makes it even easier to browse and discover new music. All the latest releases, promotional products and staff recommendations are updated on a regular basis by the 7digital editorial team. Browse through the content by swiping across the screen, and tap on a product to be taken to the artist page.

Preview and browse music at the same time

Preview and browse music at the same time

One of our favourite new functionalities is the brand new 7digital Player, which allows you to preview music and browse the site simultaneously.

Improved search performance and relevancy

mproved search performance and relevancy

Our updated search function is not only over 10 times faster than its previous incarnation, it’s a lot more accurate too; making it easier for you to find the artists you love.

Wireless syncing

With a 7digital account you’re able to wirelessly sync all your music purchases between your phone, tablet and PC. What does that mean? Well, imagine that you purchased Ryan Adams’ new album on your laptop first thing in the morning, but didn’t have time to download the music before you left the house; you can simply open up the 7digital app, or log in to our mobile site, to download and listen to the album on the bus into work.

For further information regarding 7digital for mobile, visit www.7digital.com/mobile

The 7digital app for Android is available to download from the Android Market

7digital announced the company is expanding to the Asia-Pacific region, with stores opening in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Consumers in these countries will be able to purchase high quality MP3 music from 7digital’s extensive catalogue. The new 7digital stores and mobile apps for the Android and BlackBerry platforms will launch progressively in the next few months, with all live by the end of the year.

The expansion follows a successful year for 7digital, which has seen large increase in the amount of devices from companies such as Samsung, RIM, Toshiba, Acer that utilise 7digital’s API technology. There are an estimated four million devices that have shipped with 7digital pre-installed, and that number is predicted to grow to more than 20 million devices next year.

The expansion to these new territories means 7digital now operates local stores in 37 countries across the globe.

Ben Drury, CEO at 7digital, comments “We’re really excited to expand on our success in Europe and North America and to take our market-leading products and technology to the Asia-Pacific region.

“There is a voracious appetite for connected devices in Asia-Pacific, with a growing number of consumers demanding high quality digital content. Our platform will also be available in this region to further expand 7digital applications and services on offer, and to provide consumers with high quality MP3 music on the platform of their choice.”

On the 31st floor of the Centre Point building in central London we held our annual update event today.

Ben Drury, 7digital’s CEO, outlined a number of exciting announcements, not only our portfolio of mobile apps and services, but also new partnerships from the Consumer Electronics market.

Ben provided a review of the last 12 months, we have been busy, here are some of the headlines:

• We now have coverage in 30 countries
• Over 11m tracks in our catalogue
• HMV took a 50% stake in 7digital last year
• HMV Digital, powered by 7digital,  launched in the UK and Canada
• Launched ebook delivery for Waterstone’s.  We can process and deliver ePUB and PDF files
• New partners over the past 12 months include Spotify, Virgin Mobile (Canada), Winamp, Pure and many more.

Joining Ben on stage was Mark Oliver, Chief Executive of O&O who provided an overview of the media and technology market, and the

Ben Drury speaking to the audience about the amazing year 7digital has had.

emerging trends as we transition from web 1.0 to 2.0, outlining the steps the market is taking – an acceleration in technology (Moore’s law doesn’t seem to apply any more!), the macro revenue challenge and the impact on content as we  move to greater connectivity across multiple devices and platforms.

Also joining Ben was Graeme Simons, Business Manager, Digital Products at Toshiba.  Graeme provided an overview of the Toshiba Folio tablet and the music service 7digital is powering.

Today was about new announcements, and we had a lot of them.  Again, here are the headlines:

• The brand new Samsung GALAXY Tab music hub is powered by the 7digital API.  We genuinely feel the GALAXY Tab is a real contender against the iPad
• Toshiba’s new Folio 100 tablet has the the 7digital API at the heart of its music service
• We are now O2′s digital music partner for the UK across multiple platforms – PC, mobile and connected devices.

But it’s not all about tablet PCs and smartphones, recently Pure announced its FlowSongs music service for its Internet radios, such as the Sensia.  It too uses our API along with Shazam’s to create a unique identify, tag and buy service.

There was an update on the BlackBerry app we launched last year.  We are the number 1 music store on BlackBerry, we now have over 500,000  installs, the app is available  in 20 countries,  it supports touchscreen and keyboard models and we are now in a partnership with Shazam.

But we no longer just have the BlackBerry app.  Ling Khor, 7digital’s Consumer Product Manager, joined the stage to formally announce a new raft of mobile services which means we now have the most comprehensive mobile offering in the market.  First was our mobile optimised web store, which is a browser based service accessible on most modern phones as it is mobile OS agnostic, is HTML5 forward compatible for previewing music clips in the browser, scales for tablets and allows users to access their previously purchased tracks.  Available today at http://m.7digital.com

We also launched our Android app, which is available in the Android market today.  Like our BlackBerry app you can choose whether to download over the air or via Wi-Fi, browse, download and play your 7digital purchases.  It also scales up for use on Android tablets, such as the Samsung GALAXY Tab.

We also briefly previewed our new 7digital.com site, which is currently undergoing significant development.  More information will become available over the coming months.

Everything we demonstrated today at the event is built on 7digital’ s open API architecture.  We’ve seen a massive increase  in the use of our API. There are now over 120 active clients and we’re close to 50 million hits on the API per month and it continues to  grow!  We believe in openness and we believe that great value will be created by giving a broad range companies and individuals access to the world’s music in a structured and licensed basis. We want to enable the next Spotify or Last.fm to exist without having to burn through tens of millions of pounds.  For more information on our API visit the developer site.

Just one more thing… a look at the future.

Image recognition mixed with search technology has been around for some time now and we’ve recently been working on our own implementation with Mobile Acuity. Mark Unsworth, Commercial and Strategic Product Manager, outlined the new product which is based on top of the 7digital API and is an Android based application that allows users to take a photograph with a smartphone or tablet and have the album details returned back to the device.  Now, we know this has already been done with CD covers, but we’ll go one better, by allowing users to be able to listen to the preview clips from that album.

But we still wanted to think a bit bigger and we think that we can make music advertising more interactive by allowing users to use magazines, billboards, fly posters and bus hoardings to find music and then purchase it.  More on this soon!

Well, that was this year’s's event.  We’ll see you next year!