Pocket-lint.com : 7digital : Latest News

NEWS: VIDEO: Spotify debuts improved MP3 purchases

Duncan Geere — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:17:18 +0100

No longer launches external browser window

Spotify will shortly be launching an improved MP3 purchasing experience for tracks on its streaming service. It's always been possible to buy MP3s through a right-click menu, but clicking that just opened a browser window that took you to 7digital's website.

From now onward, every single track and album in Spotify's catalogue will have a great big stonking "buy" button next to it. Clicking that button will open up a floating window in the Spotify application which lets you put in your card details to buy an MP3. Once you've done that, tracks download to a "Spotify" folder in your music directory.

There's also now a "purchases" button in the sidebar from which you can play any MP3s that you've downloaded through the service. You can redownload a file that you've bought 3 to 5 times, and the download quality differs between tracks but are mostly 256 or 320kbps.

Is this Spotify trying to add short-term referral cash to its incoming revenue streams, or providing a feature that users have been clamouring for? The company says the latter - what do you think?

Read

Tags: Audio Software Spotify Music software Music downloads Music 7digital Video

VIDEO: Spotify debuts improved MP3 purchases originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:17:18 +0100

NEWS: Which is the best online music service?

Dan Sung — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:50:20 +0100

Streaming and downloads, ad-funded or subscription based - which is yours?

With Sky's announcement of the company's upcoming service, Sky Songs, we finally have proof that every man and his dog is getting in on the music scene. As a consumer, though, the picture just gets that little bit more complicated.

If you want all the music in the world for free, then that's still possible - just not necessarily legal. So, if you've a conscience and you're looking to listen to whatever you want and even keep it, then here's a run down of a few of the options open to you.

Sky Songs

Year launched: 2009
Catalogue: 4 million
Streaming: ?6.49/month for ad-free, unlimited service
Downloads: Same ?6.49/?7.49 buys 10/15 tracks/month
DRM: No
Music Quality: Unknown
File available: MP3

Announced just today, the Sky service seems to have simplicity at its heart for a subscription model. There are just two options both of which provide an advert free unlimited stream of whatever music you choose plus the bonus of either 10 or 15 tracks to download and keep as MP3s each month. No mention of the level of quality but expect it to be around 256kbps with no choice on the matter.

Verdict - With all four majors on board and a low monthly payment, it's a very good option. If the catalogue can back it up, the "free" downloads act as a very nice bonus.

Spotify

Year launched: 2008
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: Free, ad-funded streaming or ?9.99/month for non-ad premium service
Downloads: courtesy of 7digital
DRM: n/a
Music Quality: 160kbps (free service) 320 kbps (premium)
File available: n/a

The current people's champion, Spotify is both social and free which massive pluses to the public. Yes, the ads can be annoying, yes the catalogue does have a few gaping holes and yes, the audio quality of the basic stream is relatively low, but then you can always sign up for the ?10 per month and get it on your smartphone too.

Verdict - Still the best offering for the majority of people. Perhaps not for those looking to build a library of tracks.

eMusic

Year launched: 1998
Catalogue: 6 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: 24/35/50 tracks for ?9.99/?13.99/?17.99 per month
DRM: No
Music Quality: 192kbps on average
File available: MP3

At the other end of the spectrum eMusic provides a series of subscription packages and no music for free whatsoever. The structure is fairly rigid and unlike all good mobile phone plans of days gone by, the unused credits do not roll over to the next month. That said, it's one of the oldest, most successful services out there, has built up an excellent catalogue of independent labels and more obscure, hard to find tracks.

Verdict - Great option for collectors but the audio quality can vary quite a lot.

We7

Year launched: 2007
Catalogue: 3.5 million
Streaming: free, ad-funded streaming
Downloads: pay-per-track & free ad funded versions
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256 & 320kbps paid; 192kbps free
File available: MP3

The most interesting thing about We7 as opposed to the others is that they do offer tracks to download and keep for free. The downside to this is that each contains a small piece of advertising, known as ablipvert, which plays every time with the track. You can pay to remove it and also for a higher bit-rate version too. A free streaming service is also available, so overall users get a lot of choice here.

Verdict - Good universal platform. Not such a large catalogue and slightly on the ad-heavy side.

7digital

Year launched: 2004
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track
DRM: No
Music Quality: 192, 256, 320kbps
File available: MP3/AAC/WMA/FLAC

7digital is a simple one on the outside - no streaming, no subscriptions, all downloads and all paid for. However, there's an excellent degree of flexibility once you start shopping. As with all the pay-per-track services, the songs are reasonably priced but what you get with 7digital is the option of how you'd like them downloaded. It's the only service which allows users to select both the audio quality and the file-type they'd like as well with the lossless FLAC, a noticeable intrigue.

Verdict - Good flexibility, good choice but could do with a few more tracks and some kind of free option too.

Amazon MP3

Year launched: 2008
Catalogue: 9 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track from 29p
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256kbps
File available: MP3

With downloads starting at just 29p, a catalogue of over 9 million songs and each of them at an excellent level of audio quality, it's hard to ignore Amazon's recent step into the music world - especially as it's somewhere many of us do our online shopping in the first place.

Verdict - Very good value pick and chose option.

iTunes Store

Year launched: 2003
Catalogue: 10 million
Streaming: No
Downloads: pay-per-track: $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29
DRM: No
Music Quality: 256kbps
File available: AAC

If AAC files are your thing, then the iTunes Store is the place to be. Over the air access via iPhones and iPod touches play a large part in its success as well as iTunes being the default music player for anyone with any kind of Apple PMP. Certainly not the cheapest but it's a tidy piece of software with a great catalogue and so much more palatable ever since they ditched the DRM.

Verdict - Expensive but very convenient.

Napster

Year launched: 2003
Catalogue: 8 million
Streaming: Unlimited, ad-free for ?5/month to PC or ?14.95 to portables too
Downloads: pay-per-track
DRM: No
Music Quality: 128kbps streamed, 256kbps downloads
File available: MP3/WMA

So many years and so many changes, Napster will always be associated with the hay day of the Web and the way this place has changed over all these years. The new version of the service is slightly over-complicated compared to all the others, but once people get over the bitter taste that still surrounds the original site's shutdown, they might discover that the streaming service is wonderfully cheap - just not free.

Verdict - Great value streaming from a broad catalogue. Portable version much pricier.

NEWS: BlackBerry music app unveiled by 7Digital

Duncan Geere — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:47:54 +0100

RIM gets its own music download platform.

The iPhone has iTunes. Android has Amazon MP3, at least in the States and Nokia has Comes with Music, but until now BlackBerry and Windows Mobile users were sat in the cold.

BlackBerry's now been invited into the warm confines of the party, leaving poor old Windows Mobile still outside. 7digital, alongside announcing that it's launching in the States, has revealed that its previously-planned application for BlackBerry users to download music is now here.

The app is free, and works on the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Tour in North America. By the end of the week, 7digital tells us, the company will have it working on the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Curve 8520, too.

It's available in the UK, the USA, Germany and Spain, and should launch shortly in Canada. It's been built by DevelopIQ, and works on both Wi-Fi and 3G. In the latter case, when you buy a track it'll download a 64kbps version over 3G, before upgrading it automatically to a 320kbps one when you next connect to a Wi-Fi network.

It can run in the background, unlike an iPhone application, and it can also stream audio over Bluetooth to devices. DevelopIQ is working on push functionality that'll allow any tracks bought on your PC to be pushed automatically to your BlackBerry over Wi-Fi, too.

The app is available now from BlackBerry App World.

Read

NEWS: 7digital launches in USA and Canada

Duncan Geere — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:15:47 +0100

Music download service crosses the Atlantic

MP3 download service 7digital has announced an expansion over the pond into the USA and Canada. The UK-based music company has opened websites in North America for both countries that feature content from all four major labels, as well as a host of independents.

Pricing is a smidge cheaper than market rival iTunes at 77 cents for a track, and $7.77 for an album. All content is in MP3 format at 320kbps, which is better quality than Amazon's 256kbps MP3s and equivalent to Spotify's higher-bitrate Premium service.

UK users that are paying 79p for tracks might feel a little hard-done-by, but Ben Drury, the company's founder, told Pocket-lint that the difference is thanks to the lack of VAT in the States and music publishing working differently in favour of wholesalers.

The digital market in the US is more advanced than in the UK, with 20-30% of album purchases already being digital, compared to a 15-20% forecast by the Official Charts Company in the UK for 2010.

7digital's move follows the securing last year of ?4.25 million in funding from Sutton Place managers, a venture capital fund. The company also recently signed a pan-European MP3 deal with Warner Music.

Drury told Pocket-lint that the company was pushing "agressive pricing" against iTunes and Amazon, adding "we think we can make a profit".