10 Jun 2014 07:00
10 June 2014
7digital Group plc
("7digital" or the "Company")
Contract Wins
On its first day of trading following re-admission to AIM at 8.00 a.m. today, 7digital, the digital music and radio services company, is pleased to announce important contract wins from Guvera, a streaming music service pre-loaded on Lenovo handsets and leading Japanese hi-fi manufacturer Onkyo.
The combination of 7digital Group, Inc. and UBC Media Group plc has created a powerful business- to- business supplier at the heart of the fast developing global industry in digital music and radio. This industry is moving quickly from the now traditional "download to own" or "music store" model to streaming services with curation, which come much closer to traditional online radio models.
7digital has invested heavily in the technologies and legal rights to power new streaming services and also in ingesting digital content for new High Definition ("HD") audio services. In that respect, the Company is pleased to announce some important contract wins which move it significantly towards business to business revenues from new services in these areas.
To this end, 7digital is pleased to announce a partnership agreement with Guvera, the international music streaming service. As part of the agreement, Guvera will use 7digital's platform to support its imminent expansion into India and Middle Eastern territories on mobile handsets manufactured by Lenovo. Guvera offers on-demand and ad-supported radio streaming services in Australia and the United States, where it currently has more than 800,000 active users. The roll-out of Guvera's service in India and the Middle East will be facilitated through its inclusion as a preloaded app on all Lenovo smartphones and tablets.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that is has entered into a global HD music partnership with Onkyo Corporation ("Onkyo"), a leading Japanese hi-fi company with a market capitalisation of Yen2.6bn. Onkyo sells high-end consumer electronics globally under its own brand and the Teac brand. Onkyo and 7digital will work together to bring "e-onkyo music", Japan's high definition digital music store, to Europe and the US in the coming months.
Simon Cole, CEO of 7digital, commented:
"This is a very exciting day, the launch of a new company which brings together the best of digital music and radio at a time of enormous change and opportunity in both industries. New funding of £7 million in total gives us a significantly strengthened balance sheet and it was particularly encouraging to see the Executive Directors and senior management participating in the fundraising. We have a world-leading technology platform and the ability to move ahead of the changing market; these contract wins today show that we are already doing so. Although the new contracts will not lead to a change in market expectations, they do change our revenue mix towards streaming and away from downloading."
Ben Drury, Chief Strategy Officer of 7digital, added:
"The agreements with Onkyo and Guvera demonstrate the strength of our platform which has been refined over the past ten years and now sets the industry standard when it comes to providing seamless access to digital music. As the majority of consumers start to embrace music streaming, HD and download services, 7digital will look to maintain its first-mover advantage by working with high profile partners like Onkyo and Guvera to make 7digital the first choice for anyone looking to offer their customers straightforward access to the latest digital music services."
Vice Chairman of Guvera, Michael de Vere stated:
"The Guvera service will offer millions of legally licensed tracks for both on-demand and ad-supported radio style streams. The Guvera app will be available for users in India, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates in the coming months. Guvera is thrilled to be partnering with 7digital and looks forward to offering a unique and quality product to the people of the Middle East and India."
Enquiries:
7digital Group | 020 7453 1600 |
Simon Cole, Chief Executive | |
Chris Dent, Finance Director | |
finnCap (nominated adviser and broker) | 020 7220 0500 |
Charlotte Stranner/ Simon Hicks - Corporate Finance | |
Victoria Bates - Corporate Broking | |
Investec (joint broker) | 020 7597 5970 |
Dominic Emery | |
Junya Iwamoto | |
Powerscourt | 020 7250 1446 |
Giles Sanderson / Juliet Clarke / Simon Compton / John Elliott |
About 7digital
7digital aims to simplify access to the world's music and radio. Our robust, scalable digital music platform and flexible APIs are used to power comprehensive music and radio services for leading consumer brands, mobile carriers, broadcasters, automotive systems, retailers, record labels, artists and agencies. Alongside proven technology, we offer global music rights, award-winning radio production services, and content management expertise, making us a leading global partner in this space.
7digital has powered streaming and download services for global brands like Samsung, T-Mobile, HMV and BlackBerry, has partnered with media giants such as Yahoo and Sirius XM, and is the largest independent producer of radio programming for the BBC. 7digital Group is ideally placed to lead innovation at the intersection of digital music and next generation radio services.