When B2B digital-music firm Omnifone went bankrupt earlier this year, Apple was rumoured to be one of the companies sniffing around its assets. Now TechCrunch has confirmed that Apple picked […]
Tag: Omnifone
Posted inUncategorized
7digital boss talks labels, streaming and new-found profitability
Earlier this week, B2B digital music firm 7digital published its latest trading update, revealing revenues of £5.2m in the first half of 2016, and a net loss of £3.2m.
The company also said it expects to be profitable in 2017; wrote off a £733k debt owed to it by streaming service Guvera; and hailed its shift towards “major, tier one corporates” clients, as well as startups with scale like Musical.ly.
7digital also revealed that it has delivered 600m streams to more than 15 million listeners in 2016 so far, across its network of clients. And the company noted that it has a pair of new deals with major labels: one to power “a new mobile music service in four markets” and the other to “build a new tool for the label relating to streaming”.
Music Ally caught up with 7digital’s CEO Simon Cole at the tail-end of two days of analyst briefings, to find out more about how the company’s business is evolving, particularly in the wake of its main rival Omnifone’s bankruptcy earlier in the year.
Posted inAnalysis
The Secret Business Affairs Executive: Lessons from Omnifone’s fall
Music Ally’s mystery columnist has seen the digital music market from both side of the rightsholders / startups divide. Now they’re spilling the beans.
“Yet another one bites the dust. And it’s happening faster than I can keep up at the moment. I’m not even talking about Crowdmix (which I will eventually get to separately).
I’m talking about Omnifone. It’s a sad moment when one of the earliest digital music businesses has finally made its way to the electronic scrapheap in the cloud(s). The infamous “inflection point” from ownership models to access models has long been talked about. It has now happened, and with it has come the brutal extinction of many digital music species.
Posted inNews
PonoMusic switching to 7digital as Omnifone rumours swirl
The recent slide into administration of B2B digital music firm Omnifone is giving some of its former clients a headache. PonoMusic, for example, is having to suspend its downloads store while it transfers over from Omnifone’s platform to new supplier 7Digital.
Posted inNews
Omnifone business and assets to be sold for $10m to US firm
Stricken digital music firm Omnifone’s technology business and assets are being bought for $10m by a mystery US company.
That’s according to a document published by the firm’s administrator Leonard Curtis through Companies House in the UK, as well as distributed to creditors for a meeting this afternoon.
Omnifone went into administration in early May, laying off 71 staff in the process.
The report reveals that 34 parties expressed interest in buying Omnifone’s business and assets before the deadline of 17 May, although Leonard Curtis ultimately only received six offers.
“An offer of USD $10,000,000 from a US purchaser for the Technology Business and assets of the OL, excluding the patent portfolio was accepted by the Joint Administrators of OL on 18 May 2016,” explains the document.
Posted inNews
Omnifone creditors meeting set for 12 July
Having entered administration in May, stricken B2B firm Omnifone will take its next steps this month. Administrator Leonard Curtis has given notice that a meeting of creditors will be held on 12 July at its offices in London.
Posted inNews
Why would someone buy Omnifone? For its patents…
B2B digital-music firm Omnifone was placed into administration earlier this month, resulting in the layoff of up to 70 staff.
Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is the company tasked with finding a buyer for Omnifone’s assets, including its MusicStation platform. Who would buy these assets, and why? It seems that Omnifone’s patents may be what tempts potential suitors most.
Posted inNews
Music video app Musical.ly strikes deal with 7digital
“Instant music video” app Musical.ly (no, not us, still) is similar to Dubsmash, in that it lets people make and share lip-syncing videos on their social networks.
But what about licensing for that music? The answer may be a deal announced yesterday with B2B digital music firm 7digital.
Posted inNews
Digital music firm Omnifone placed into administration
B2B digital-music firm Omnifone has been placed into administration, resulting in the layoff of up to 70 staff as it seeks a buyer for the company’s technology assets.
The UK-based company’s clients include Samsung, SiriusXM, Guvera and Neil Young’s PonoMusic. It is unclear at the present time what the administration means for their services.
“On 4 May 2016, Omnifone Limited and Omnifone Group Limited were placed into Administration in the High Court of Justice, with Andrew Duncan and Neil Bennett, of Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group, appointed as Joint Administrators,” explains a note on Omnifone’s website.
Posted inData, News
Line Music has 4m active users and an Omnifone deal
Line Music launched in Japan earlier this year as an offshoot from messaging app Line – and was one of the first streaming services to be licensed in what’s still a physical-dominated market.
Now there’s some information on takeup of the service since its launch in June: it now has four million active users.
Posted inNews
Samsung launches web client for Milk Music
Samsung has launched a website version of its Milk Music service – the first time it’s been available on non-Samsung devices. The personal radio service launched in the US in […]
Posted inNews
Omnifone: six new clients but plans to sell Rara
Business-to-business digital music firm Omnifone has lost two of its biggest customers in BlackBerry and Sony, while its just-released financial results for the year ending 30 April 2014 revealed revenues […]