Partnership in High Resolution Audio

19th December 2014

7digital Group plc

("7digital" or "the Company")

Partnership in High Resolution Audio

7digital (AIM:7DIG), the digital music and radio services company, announces a global partnership with British audio pioneer, Meridian Audio ("Meridian"), based around Meridian's recently launched revolutionary new High Resolution sound experience MQA, or Master Quality Authenticated.

Meridian, based near Cambridge, has over 35 years' history of innovation and development of consumer home entertainment systems offering exceptional performance. The award-winning company is widely recognised as a world leader in high-quality audio and video reproduction. Meridian developed the first audiophile CD player, the world's first consumer digital surround controller and the world's first digital loudspeaker.

MQA was launched to an enthusiastic reception from the consumer electronics and music industries on 4 December 2014 in a presentation at London's "Shard".

The partnership, announced today, means that 7digital will adopt MQA and become the first digital music platform provider to offer this high quality audio format for both downloads and streaming. It follows recent announcements of contracts with Panasonic and Onkyo to develop new High Resolution music services.

Simon Cole, CEO of 7digital, commented: 

"MQA is a revolutionary new development in the journey towards serving consumers the purest high resolution digital files. MQA, which will be available in early 2015, delivers the quality of original studio recordings so cleverly and efficiently that it can be conveniently streamed or downloaded. We feel extremely privileged to have been involved so closely with the Meridian team right through the R&D stage, lending our own considerable and longstanding experience in high quality digital music services to the process. I truly believe MQA will become the standard for high quality streaming."

Meridian Audio Co-Founder Bob Stuart said:

"MQA is an important development that transforms music listening. MQA brings the listener every nuance and detail and the excitement of the live performance sound. Authenticity is not compromised for convenience. 7digital's commitment to excellence and to sound quality makes them a natural partner for MQA. Their team have been untiring supporters of this revolution and we are excited about the launch of this platform."

ENDS

Enquiries:

About 7digital

7digital aims to simplify access to the world's music and radio. Their 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, they offer global music rights, award-winning radio production services, and content management expertise, making them 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.

http://about.7digital.com/ 

About Meridian Audio

Meridian is based near Cambridge, UK, and was founded in 1977 by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd. With over 35 years' history of innovation and development of uncompromised consumer home entertainment systems offering exceptional performance, this award-winning company is widely recognized as a world leader in high-quality audio and video reproduction.

Meridian developed the first audiophile CD player, the world's first consumer digital surround controller and the world's first digital loudspeaker. Bob Stuart architected MLP, the lossless coding used in DVD-Audio and Blu-ray. The company's optical disc players, DSP loudspeakers, video projectors and processors are unique in the industry, maintaining a super-quality digital signal throughout the path from the studio to the home, using advanced digital signal processing to deliver both a sweet, natural sound and smooth, crystal-sharp images with true cinematic realism.

http://www.meridian-audio.com