BlackBerry 10’s music service will be a hit

The music service for the new Blackberry 10 devices will be a hit with BlackBerry users.

That’s the conclusion we have come to after checking out the offerings of 7Digital, the UK-based company that will be supplying a native app to the new devices, due out early next year.

Trying to trip it up, we did a search for a diverse and eclectic range of artists, including Gram Parsons, Tune-Yards, Bix Beiderbecke. Jonathan Richman and Adele, as well as the new Rolling Stones single “Doom and Gloom”. They were all there.

The offerings of 7Digital, more than 22-million tracks at last count, won’t be unique to the BlackBerry, but they will go a long way towards RIM’s reputation for being short on content. As an app, 7 Digital was available on Android devices late in 2010, and on iOS in December of last year. Its first native app creation was completed in April 2012 for the Windows Phone 7.

7digital’s partner network includes Universal Music, EMI, Warner Music and Sony, Ubuntu, Shazam, Last.fm, Winamp, Songbird, and HMV.

This is not the first touch BlackBerry users will have with 7Digital, but it is expected to be the most tailored. The BlackBerry Playbook’s music store was powered by the 7Digital Music Store, but the BlackBerry 10 version is rumoured to be more integrated with the operating system, allowing for social media integration, previews and recommendations. One of the hallmarks of the platform is its “cloud-based locker”, which will allow users to access the content from any device after purchase.

Downloads on the 7Digital platform are encoded at 192 kbps or higher (iTunes uses a standard of 128 Kbps, expect for its iTunes Plus pay-service, which encodes at 256 kbps). 7Digital will allow users to pay for the service with a credit card or with PayPal.

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