The Clientele do it right

Merge Records is releasing The Clientele's new album Strange Geometry on CD and LP, with a special twist that every record label should adopt this very second. If you buy the vinyl, they give you a free download of the entire album. This is great as it seems that music fans (at least the "indie" variety) are beginning to realize that CDs have no advantages over digital files and that if you want a permanent physical artifact with great fidelity, vinyl is the way to go. By combining the two formats together, it saves me the trouble of buying the record then feeling like a thief when I go download the same album to listen to on my iPod. I don't know what kind of files the "digital download" consists of, but if these are DRM-free MP3s, I think Merge has hit a home run.

edit: Catbirdseat has an interesting idea how to make Merge even more awesome.

Posted by Mark Allen on Thursday, October 27, 2005