Songtradr Completes 7digital Acquisition

Sorry for the missive but this is a great moment of pride and I’ve not been able to talk about this publicly until the deal was formally approved but I am so pleased to be able to say something now: after 19 years in the music business as a stand-alone company, we have sold 7digital to Songtradr after the formal shareholder approval and the completion of the deal yesterday. 7digital is no longer a publicly listed company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Songtradr!

I’m beyond proud of what the team at 7digital has achieved in my time as CEO, since 2019. In 2018, the company posted a loss of -£12m, but for 2022 we are reporting our first ever full year of profit. We have signed deals with some amazing clients, some big some small but all great people trying to further the discovery of music, helping artists distribute their art in innovative ways to as broad an audience as possible, to help enrich the lives of the listener. 

Ben Drury founded this company all that time ago in 2004 and I’d like to think the genesis of the original 7digital and to some extent the culture that he fostered still forms part of the company’s DNA today. Yet we have adapted, changed and shown so much resilience in one of the most challenging and dynamic periods in the history of the music industry. To the many previous employees that have contributed to the 7digital story - thank you! You all played a part. 

I’d like to thank my Board, our investors, our clients, our rights holder partners and our product and technology providers for their unwavering support and friendship. We really couldn’t have done it without you. And to my friends in the wider industry and even our competitors, it’s been a pleasure to share this experience with you all and I’ve been privileged to lead a company in such a vibrant industry that we all care so passionately for.

And lastly to my current and amazing team. I owe you a debt of gratitude. You’ve built the best b2b music platform in the business. The team has never been so engaged or delivered such great work as you are now. Your hard work, dedication and frankly your stubbornness to help us stay the course are the reasons we are here today and can look forward to an even brighter future tomorrow. Our success has been because of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

But to the future now. I couldn’t be happier that 7digital will now be part of the Songtradr team. I’ve long believed 7digital needed to be part of a bigger picture and Songtradr really will be an amazing new home for the business. We will still be serving our clients as we do today and bringing more on board but as part of a bigger family, with more capability and firepower. Paul Wiltshire and the excellent team at Songtradr are building something really exciting and all of us at 7digital cannot wait to make our contribution to its future success. Our businesses not only share a vision but also a culture and a mindset and it’s been a pleasure for us to get to know the Songtradr team. I’ll be staying with Songtradr, as will the rest of the 7d crew, and I look forward to playing my own part in what will be an incredibly exciting time ahead.

So there we have it. Thank you, from all of us at 7d, for all the fun, the support and for the friends made. It really has meant the world.  But as one chapter closes, a new one begins and we cannot wait to get started!!!!