We7 launches with The Big Listen

Today is great news for music fans and bad news for piracy, as millions of tracks from artists including Kings Of Leon, Pink, Nickelback, and Estelle will be legally and instantly accessible on We7.com, as We7 launches its full music service. 

We7’s 'Big Listen' Launch Campaign delivers:-

    • On-demand, unlimited and instant access to full tracks and albums - FREE

    • 'Search, Click & Play' - an easier and better alternative to piracy

    • A 'Celestial Jukebox' of millions of great tracks

    • 'Play Anywhere' - new link and play system empowering blogs and websites

    • Rights Owners and Artists get PAID  

As an easier and better alternative to piracy, We7 gives music fans unlimited access to millions of great tracks from major record labels and Independents across all genres, to listen to for FREE and on-demand. The We7 difference is that while fans get free music, rights owners and artists get paid by We7 utilising both audio and digital advertising, so it’s a win-win situation for all.  

The Big Listen

Whatever their music taste, all music lovers have to do at We7.com is 'Search, Click and Play' and they can listen to full tracks and albums of their favourites artists instantly, We7 also delivers the choice music fans have come to expect, by adding up to 30,000 tracks a day to its outstanding 'celestial jukebox'  of over 3 million licensed tracks, including many new releases as they become available.  

Music fans can create personal playlists, share their favourites with their friends and buy the music they love at We7's download store, where they can download high quality mp3 downloads which are compatible with iPods and most other digital players.  

We7 introduces its 'Play Anywhere' dream, where any web reference to music, tracks, albums or artists in any article, blog or website can be played instantly, wherever you are online. 

This will allow music fans, websites and bloggers to share and play music anywhere on the web via We7 widgets and links.  

We7 CEO, Steve Purdham, said: "It was just 18 months ago that we had the dream of delivering great music that’s free and legal for consumers and where artists and rights owners get paid. Today that dream’s a reality. We7 has great music and that builds great audiences which will be highly valuable to brands and advertisers. We’re hugely proud of our great service and very excited to be delivering it to the benefit of music fans, artists and brands alike".   

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive at the BPI commented: "Record labels are licensing a wide variety of new business models so music fans can access the music they want, when, how and where they want it, while respecting the rights of artists. We7 is a very good example of how the music business is leading the digital content revolution. But for digital entrepreneurs like We7 to continue innovating and investing in new services for consumers, we must tackle illegal downloading, which undermines the business case for all legal services. The BPI's new partnerships with Government and internet providers aim to ensure that digital Britain can realise the enormous value that music and other creative works offer, if their value is respected." 

Comments

[GaryV]

Cracking site - I've recommended it to all my friends
Thank you!!!

[Johnson]

Where do you fit now with Qtrax? How come you have not posted your financial results [overdue]?

If this venture fails, will you try & build another company, oh "Bob the Builder". Will 100K subscribers vs 5m give you lift off?

If customers choose, why would they choose We7 ... now? In the scale, minimal tracks, difficult to "hear just music" - isn't it all "about the cause" to get music out there?

We just wanna be free and do what we wanna do!! AIO.

[Soulsupastarr]

I’m kinda surprised to read that Universal, Sony BMG and the other major labels are allowing their artists music available to download, for free, on the Qtrax service, although it’s a great way to put a stop to music piracy. I’m thinking that this is the way the music industry will be going in the future, as it’s beneficial to the artists, labels, advertisers and music listeners too.

I would also think that We7 could offer a similar service in the future to what Qtrax have, where the major labels music could be downloaded that is ad-supported & have an additional form of Digital Rights Management (similar to iTunes) where it can be added to iPod’s/MP3 players (a facility which Qtrax doesn’t have at this time), as well as being played on a PC/Mac.

Being able to download ad-supported songs/album which can be played on portable music players, is IMO, We7's unique selling point & if they worked with the major labels to provide a free & legal ad-supported download service (with the option to buy songs/albums ad-free too), including a wide variety of music from both established & independent artists, for UK music listeners it would, IMO, be very successful and as I've said beneficial to everyone.

[Gareth Reakes, CTO We7]

Hi Johnson and Soulsupastarr,

Our aim is to provide all our music for ad funded downloads but we can't make the the economics work on all music at the moment. In the UK, about half is downloadable but that doesn't include much front line music. We hope to change this next year.

Right from the start we said no to DRM. We believe that if you download music you need to be able to do whatever you want with it. Regarding numbers, that 100k was a little while ago. We have over 200k registered users but thats not the full story. If you just want to stream (like most people) then you don't need to register. About 4/5 of our streams each month are from non registered users.

QTrax is US focused and the major label contracts are in the US. This means you can't get the front line content in the UK, which is where we are focused. Also, I just went and searched for 4 albums that are new and off of our front page. None are available on QTrax yet.

We don't think that one model or service will exist by itself in the future. Some people will want subscription, some standard download and some ad funded.

I believe people would choose We7 because we have a really top notch web site that you listen to music quickly, easily and free.

Regarding the accounts, they will be submitted in the next few weeks.

[Bob Harvey]

Hi
This looks like a press release, and I notice no reference at all to the original idea of supporting new and unsigned performers.

An opportunity lost. It makes We7 look just like another me-too web site.

[Antony]

I'm really loving WE7 at the moment. It's a great way to listen to an album or song in full so you can really make an informed choice whether you wanna buy it or not. I love how WE7 have the latest albums and i was amazed to see foreign music on the website too.

Thanks WE7. Your website's brilliant

p.s. It's also a brilliant way to listen to your favourite songs in HQ when you don't have your music player with you or you wanna play someone a song you like.

[Gareth Reakes, CTO We7]

Hey Antony,

Thanks for the kind words. We are glad you are enjoying the site!

[Soulsupastarr]

The main point I was making about DRM was that I was assuming that the major label's would be more receptive to having their latest releases available, if DRM was added. It's good that We7 are hoping to make more music available as ad-free downloads, which if it's going to include major releases too in the future, would I'm sure be of interest to lots of music listeners in the UK.

As for the future for online/digital music, I agree that music listeners would like the choice between different ways to buy/listen to music. I do think that We7 is definitely on the right track with the ad-funded model, as advertisers can market their products/services to the right demographics, plus as I've said, this would be beneficial to advertisers, the artists & labels, We7 and music listeners themselves. We7 is a really good website, which has lots of top music and I'm sure will keep on improving.

[Soulsupastarr]

I have noticed some of the ad-supported songs & albums are no longer available to be downloaded on We7, for example, The Whispers music. I was wondering, will the more well known artists (like The Whispers) music be available to download again as ad-funded songs & albums or will the download feature only be available for independent artists music?.

[Gareth Reakes, CTO We7]

Hey Soulsupastarr,

Thanks for the kind words. The music available for ad-funded download changes as our contracts change. Last year there was a fair bit of consolidation in the music industry. As our contracts with the old companies that have now been bought expire, the music rights we have change to the contracts of their new owners. In some cases this means we no longer have rights to do ad-funded downloads.

We believe we can make ad-funded downloads work for all content. Its going to take some time to show we can generate enough revenue from the advertising, while not taking any revenue that already exists from people who purchase the song. We believe that there will be "up sell" from the ad funded tracks just like there is from our ad-funded streams. We hope to make significant progress in this space next year.

[asd]

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[Soulsupastarr]

Thanks for the explanation Gareth. I agree that ad-funded downloads will most likely work for all the songs/albums on We7. Major labels could use the ad-funded model to promote new acts & new album releases (which in a sense would be the digital equivalent of 'album samplers' or promotional CDs) & another main reason would be to assist in putting a stop to music piracy. The labels artists would be compensated by being paid when We7 users download their songs/albums, which in turn benefits the labels, advertisers and We7 too.

I think having ad-funded downloads is a very good concept and I'm sure once We7 show's they generate enough revenue via advertising, the major labels & artists should agree to their music being available to both listen & download, which would be great for all music listners & in my opinion, would get even more people to join We7 too.

[Audie Murphy]

Hi Gareth, do you know Soulsupastar by any chance? Is he a DJ? By the way, how come We7's financial accounts are STILL overdue from 31 October 2008? Doesn't really look too good in a "professional sense" for We7 "trying to be a player", does it?? Comments please.

[Mortimer Musegate]

Hi Gareth, 1-month overdue is late, 2-months overdue for your financial accounts is negligent and not professional - what's happening? By the way,aren't you the CTO and not the CFO - why are you handling these questions?

[Audie Murphy]

Hi there Gareth, happy New Year to all at We7. Let's hope you don't run out of investor cash before you start generating some decent incoming [ad-based] revenue - it would be a shame to lose such a well-intentioned option for people to get at music.

[Gareth Reakes, CTO We7]

Hey Audie,

Thanks for the kind words. There is no doubt its going to be a difficult year ahead for all ad funded companies. Both our traffic and ad revenue have been increasing quickly in the 2 months since our launch so we are in a better position than most.

[Soulsupastarr]

I have a few music related questions. Are We7 planning to add these albums in the near future:

Madlib - "WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip"
Kurupt & Roscoe - "The Frank & Jessy Story"
Dam-Funk - "Rhythm Trax Vol. 4"
Baron Zen - "Rhythm Trax Vol. 3"
DJ Romes - "Rhythm Trax Vol. 2"
James Pants - "Rhythm Trax Vol. 1"
Various - "A Cappellas"
Various - "Badd Santa"
Yesterdays New Quintet - "Stevie"
Peanut Butter Wolf - "Peanut Butter Breaks"
Peanut Butter Wolf - "My Vinyl Weighs A Ton"
San Quinn - "From A Boy To A Man"
San Quinn - "The Rock: Pressure Makes Diamonds"

Also, would it possible for We7 to have albums which are no longer commercially available/'out of print' to be available digitally?. There's alot of artists music which wasn't released onto CD (only via LP & cassette) and sometimes the CDs themselves are now longer in-print so IMO, it could be a very good way for music listeners to hear their favourite artists again.

[we7colin]

Hey soulsupastarr

It would be great to add music that was never re-issued onto CD from vinyl and cassette - the music we get on the site comes from from record company's it's them we we need to lobby for this to happen ; )

We have some of the artists you mention above, so we should be adding more of their tracks soon. We are adding new music everyday, so keep checking back to the site.

Cheers,
we7colin

[Soulsupastarr]

Thanks for the reply Colin. Hip-O-Select & Rhino are two labels which, in my opinion, do a very good job in re-issuing music from Universal (such as the Motown catalogue) and Rhino do so with music which was on Warner's and/or their affiliated labels.

It would be good if more labels followed suit and re-issued more music which isn't available to buy anymore. I'm assuming it's mainly because of economics, but I think there's a niche market for out-of-print/deleted music and if it might not be viable to re-release music onto CD or Vinyl because of minimal demand for it, they could make it available again digitally.