UK record label First Word Records is offering DJs the best of both worlds – vinyl records that include downloadable MP3s – with a new service, DigiWax.
The records are double-weight vinyl discs that come with a unique code. With the code, buyers can download an unprotected, 320Kbps MP3 version of the music, to use however they like. The approach offers DJs and audiophiles the best of both analog and digital media.
First Word cofounder Andy H is a DJ and knows the difficulties and dangers of traveling with rare discs.
“The sheer weight and size of vinyl meant that I had to be very selective of what I took abroad to DJ,” says DJ and First Word cofounder Andy H. “By contrast, digital files weigh nothing, and if you have a backup, they are impossible to lose.”
The MP3 downloads are DRM-free.
“Once a customer has paid for the track, they should be free to play it in any player,” says First Word cofounder Aly Gillani. “Making a legal, paid-for version of the file less useful than a copied or pirated one doesn’t make sense.”
Nice to see that other record labels and artists are picking up on this new method of promoting.
Here in Belgium we have a couple of artists doing it for years already. With our Media Locker module at Fuud, they can create unique shortcodes which they can put on promotional items or flyers they hand out. People can fill in the code when they want to pick up the files. This way the label or artist can track how effective their campaign was.