London - Independent digital music retailer 7digital.com said on Monday that it has seen sales for the first half of 2008 increase 300% from a year ago, driven by the new availability of DRM-free MP3 tracks from Warner Music, EMI and others. The company, which now claims to be the second-largest digital music retailer in the U.K., said site traffic has increased 130% since January. The 7digital.com store now offers around 80% of its 4 million-track catalog in the MP3 format.

London - Sony United Kingdom on Tuesday announced a marketing partnership with digital music and video store 7digital.com, which will see voucher cards for free downloads from 7digital bundled with Sony Walkman Wirefree portable media players sold through Argos stores in the U.K. and Ireland. 7digital offers a library of DRM-free music videos that can be played on most portable players, including the Walkman.

London - ERA Digital, an offshoot of the U.K. trade group the Entertainment Retailers Association that includes HMV.com, Play.com, 7digital.com, Orange and Playlouder MSP, has released a five-point plan of reforms its says are "essential to maintain growth in the market."

London - European music download store 7digital.com on Monday announced a deal with Warner Music Group's (NYSE: WMG) Warner Music International, to sell downloads in MP3 format to its customers in the U.K., Ireland, Spain, France and Germany. The company, which claims 1.2 million registered customers, said the deal makes it the first European download store to offer Warner tracks as MP3s; over 80% of the store's 3.5 million-track catalog is DRM-free.

Cannes, France - U.K.-based digital music retailer 7digital announced on Monday that it has raised $8.5 million in new funding, led by Sutton Place Managers with participation from Balderton Capital.

Hyderabad, India - India-based game developer 7Seas Technologies has acquired the online game portal Neodelight from Germany-based Neokolor. Financial terms were not disclosed. 7Seas said that Neodelight's 300 games and more than 1 million unique monthly visitors, as well as its game engine technology, will benefit 7Seas' own offering at OnlineRealGames.com.

London - U.K.-based digital music retailer 7digital.com has announced that year-on-year sales were up 188%, which the company credited to its ability to offer 70% of its 3.5 million-track catalog in the MP3 format. Top selling albums in 2007 included Kylie Minogue's "X," Arctic Monkeys' "Favourite Worst Nightmare" and The White Stripes' "Icky Thump." The company also benefited from an exclusive deal to offer Radiohead's back catalog digitally, as six of these albums were in the top 20. "2008 is set to be the year DRM is gone for good," said 7digital managing director Ben Drury. "We've already seen all four majors make efforts to offer DRM-free downloads and by the summer DRM will likely be resigned to the history books."

London - Digital music retailer 7digital said on Friday that its IndieStore.com service has partnered with Sub.tv to give artists who use the store the opportunity to record a live studio session that will be broadcast on Sub.tv and over the company's network of screens placed in 100 U.K. universities. One IndieStore.com artist each month will be invited to film a live session with Sub.tv.

London - Digital music retailer 7digital said on Thursday that DRM-free MP3 downloads are out-selling other formats offered on its site by almost four-to-one, where MP3 is offered alongside WMA. The company added that its service offers over 60% of its more than three million-track catalog in MP3 format, and expects that proportion to increase to close to 100% by next summer. "As physical sales on the high-street and online continue to drop, it is vital that labels find a way to increase digital album sales to make up the shortfall," said 7digital managing director Ben Drury. "In order for music industry revenues to flourish again, all four majors need to get on board and make music available to the consumer in the format of their choice."

London - Radiohead has ended its boycott of digital music retail, as the band's former label EMI has struck a deal with U.K.-based retailer 7digital to sell full MP3 Radiohead albums. Radiohead has not made its music available on iTunes, as it refuses to make individual tracks available for sale; the offerings on 7digital will be full albums only.

London - U.K.-based digital music store 7digital said on Monday that it will be first retailer in the U.K. to offer seminal rock band Pink Floyd's entire back catalog as 320 Kbps, DRM-free MP3 files, and the first to offer the group's full catalog. A promotion will initially offer albums like "Animals" and "Dark Side of the Moon" for about $11.14; other records like "The Wall" and "Pulse" will sell for about $14.18. The site will also be the first to offer the digitally remastered "Piper at the Gates of Dawn," the band's first album which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

San Mateo, Calif. - D2C Games, a developer and publisher of downloadable video games, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $6 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Rubicon Venture Partners and 755 Capital Partners.

London - Digital music service 7digital announced on Tuesday that it will be the first to offer DRM-free MP3 downloads of 24 Rolling Stones albums from major label EMI Music. The month-long exclusive for 7digital will see records dating from 1971's "Sticky Fingers" made available as 320 kbps MP3 albums at a promotional price of about $11 each, rising to about $16 after the promotion.

London - 7digital, a U.K.-based music and video download store, said on Monday that it partnered with the Nationwide Mercury Prize, which is awarded to the best music album released in the U.K. each year. The company has launched a Mercury Prize widget, which users may emded on their websites or social network pages and listen to a selection of tracks from the Albums of the Year, from artists including Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, Klaxons, The View and Amy Winehouse.

London - U.K.-based digital music service 7digital has announced a re-launch of its service, which includes EMI's catalog and a total of nearly 1 million of its 2 million track library in MP3 format. Tracks will be sold for 50 pence (99 cents) and albums for £5 ($9.86), compared with 79 pence per track at the U.K. iTunes Store. The company also launched a new digital locker service that lets users upload and access all of their music and video files from any Internet-connected device.

London - Digital media delivery firm 7digital on Wednesday announced the launch of a dedicated digital music and video download store in Ireland. The store will offer songs from major and independent label artists in MP3, WMA and AAC formats, at bitrates up to 320kbps. The company partnered with Universal Ireland on a launch promotion that will see over 700 back catalog titles reduced in price to about $10 (Euro 7.77), a discount of about $4 (Euro 3.00). London-based 7digital also provides digital music delivery for O2, MSN, Last.fm, Yahoo and others.

Glasgow, Scotland - Beanscene, a Scotland-based coffeehouse chain, on Wednesday announced the launch of a music download store that lets customers purchase songs they hear in its stores via SMS text message or PC-based download. The store is powered by 7digital, which includes access to over one million tracks.

London - Bebo, a U.K.-based online social network with over 31 million users, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with 7digital, a digital media delivery provider, to launch a digital music download store on its network.

San Mateo, Calif. - Former Electronic Arts developers Bart Besseling and Scott Orr -- also the founder of mobile games firm Sorrent -- on Thursday announced the launch of their new game publishing company, D2C Games. Funded by Rubicon Venture Partners and 755 Capital Partners, the San Mateo, Calif.-based company plans to sell games, as well as episodic digital comic books, direct to consumers. Upcoming releases include "Chalkboard Sports" and "Strange Cases," a multi-format collaboration with comic book writer Steve Niles set to launch as an episodic game in 2008.