On Demand Distribution (OD2) was one of the first online

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Thi ...

services, which existed from 1999 until 2009.

History

On Demand Distribution, short O-D2 or OD2, was founded by English musician

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, Real World, Real World CEO Mike Large and industry executives Charles Grimsdale, Dave Shephard and David Munns in November 1999. The company based their infrastructure on the

Windows Media Windows Media is a discontinued multimedia framework for media creation and distribution for Microsoft Windows. It consists of a software development kit (SDK) with several application programming interfaces (API) and a number of prebuilt technolo ...

framework. OD2 launched their service on 24 May 2000 in London, offering downloads from initial independent record companies Mushroom,

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, V2, Real World, and dance music licensing agency Dynamik-Music the following day. After OD2 having forged partnerships with record labels BMG,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Warner Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...

and the

Association of Independent Music The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is a non-profit trade body established in 1998 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, which in 2016 constituted approximately 23% of the UK market. Its members incl ...

(AIM),

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

licensed its catalogue to OD2 in 2002. OD2 was making a loss but in June 2004 was bought by US digital music distributor company Loudeye for $40 million. Loudeye sold its other music distribution business in 2006, making OD2 its principal business. In October 2006 Loudeye was acquired by Finnish company

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

for $60 million. The service was renamed

Nokia Music Store MixRadio was an online music streaming service owned by Line Corporation. The service was first introduced by Nokia in 2011 as ''Nokia Music'' for Windows Phone, serving as a successor to Nokia's previous Nokia Music Store/Comes with Music/Ovi ...

. Rival digital music distributors included MusicNet which was used by

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, BMG and

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

- the latter of which defected from OD2 in 2005. On 1 April 2009 OD2 informed all existing customers by e-mail and on the site that it was to close on 29 April 2009 and recommended all customers download Nokia Music. Prior to its closure in 2009, its technology had been used by over 100 music download sites including

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

UK, MyCokeMusic, Planet Internet (KPN), Wanadoo and

CD WOW! WOW HD is an online store that mainly sells physical copies of pre-recorded music and videos. History Under its previous name, CD WOW!, the retailer began operating in the UK in 2000, offering CDs and DVDs at lower prices than the high street. ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct online music stores Defunct digital music services or companies

History

See also

References