Sub Pop Records, the label most recognized for launching the careers of Nirvana and Soundgarden, have announced that beginning in 2007, every new vinyl LP purchased will come with a coupon good for a free download of said album. This will only be for albums released after the new year, so they won't be retroactively inserting these coupons into records from the past. The first release privy to this exciting strategy will be the third album from the Natalie Portman life changing band The Shins, "Wincing the Night Away", in stores January 23rd, by the way.
I thought this was a great idea when Merge Records experimented with it during the 2005 release of The Clientele's "Strange Geometry" album, and was a little sad it hadn't caught on. If I know for the price of one LP that I could download the album to my Ipod and burn it to a CD as well, then being the deal monger I am sign me up, three formats for the price of one. I don't expect major labels to follow suits because, well they're ran exclusively by jackasses, but hopefully some of the more popular independent labels like Merge, Matador, Touch and Go, Warp, 4AD, etc. will follow suit. In addition to the Shins, Sub Pop current line-up includes Iron and Wine, The Postal Service, Band of Horses, Wolf Parade, Low and...David Cross!?!?!
Here's the official press release:
We have recently decided to steal the very good idea of some other fine record labels and begin offering free mp3 downloads of albums purchased on vinyl. Actually, we decided to steal this idea a long time ago, but we are evidently very slow and are only now doing so. When we first heard that the clever folks at Merge Records (what? a year or so ago?) were doing this, we were immediately struck with what a great idea it is. And so, starting with The Shins' Wincing the Night Away, we will be doing the same!
Here's the deal:
Starting with our first release in 2007 (the aforementioned Shins record) and continuing on until such time as we lose interest or forget, if/when you buy a Sub Pop release in the vinyl format, you will find a coupon enclosed. And on this coupon will be instructions, a url and a unique code for you to download the mp3s for the album you've purchased.
Pretty simple. The idea here is that people who buy records on vinyl should be afforded the same access to the digital files as those who buy records on CD, without having to consult some audiophile/computer expert/person working at Radio Shack. Those people sometimes have really bad attitudes.
Please note that these coupons, and their associated access to free mp3s, will not magically (or otherwise) appear in albums released before January of 2007.
People should read this.
Posted by: Maribel | October 29, 2008 at 01:41 AM