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

music download A music 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. This term encompasses both legal downloads ...

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 singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

, 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 technol ...

framework. OD2 launched their service on 24 May 2000 in London, offering downloads from initial independent record companies Mushroom, Mute, V2, Real World, and dance music licensing agency Dynamik-Music the following day. After OD2 forged partnerships with record labels BMG,

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

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 M ...

and the

Association of Independent Music The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is a non-profit trade body established in 1999 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, which in 2016 constituted approximately 23% of the UK market. Its members in ...

(AIM),

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

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 is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

for $60 million. The service was renamed Nokia Music Store. Rival digital music distributors included MusicNet, which was used by

AOL 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, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

, BMG and

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

– 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 ...

UK, MyCokeMusic, Planet Internet (KPN), Wanadoo and CD WOW!.

References

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

History

See also

References