7digital becomes serious rival with iTunes as it signs four labels

7digital a London based startup which launched in 2004, yesterday stole the lead on digital music rivals such as Amazon and Apple’s iTunes as it became first in Europe to offer catalogues of all four of the big labels free of rights restrictions, this was seen as a massive leap for 7digital who were extremely happy that can now offer the majority of their 4m tracks in MP3.

A boost in download sales were also promised by 7digital, although download sales have been growing, they have not grown at the rate to compensate for the fall in CD sales.

The digital music company will slash prices of album downloads, offering back-catalogue titles for as little as £2 and £3 and some new albums as low as £5. 7digital signed deals with four huge record companies, Kings of Leon, Glasvegas, Sony BMG and Bob Dylan. 7Digital have also promised to upgrade to the new format all previous purchases of DRM-protected tracks.

Read the full article in the guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/sep/17/netmusic