“In Rainbows” MP3s Will Be Encoded At 160KBps

noah | October 9, 2007 12:28 pm
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E-mails about tomorrow’s release of Radiohead’s In Rainbows have started to trickle out from W.A.S.T.E., and not only do those e-mails let people who bought the album just exactly when they’ll get their e-mitts on copies of the album (“tomorrow morning UK time,” which means I’ll start keeping watch on my RSS readers at about 11 p.m. ET), they let out some information on just how the MP3s will be encoded:

THANK YOU FOR ORDERING IN RAINBOWS. THIS IS AN UPDATE.

YOUR UNIQUE ACTIVATION CODE(S) WILL BE SENT OUT TOMORROW MORNING (UK TIME). THIS WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE DOWNLOAD AREA.

HERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD:

THE ALBUM WILL COME AS A 48.4MB ZIP FILE CONTAINING 10 X 160KBPS DRM FREE MP3s.

MOST COMPUTERS NOW HAVE ZIP SOFTWARE AS PART OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM; IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT, YOU NEED TO GET WINZIP OR ZIPIT INSTALLED PRIOR.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THEM HERE:

PC: //www.winzip.com/ MAC: //www.maczipit.com/

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS DOWNLOADING YOUR FILE, PLEASE CONTACT OUR DOWNLOAD CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM AT downloadinrainbows@waste.uk.com

160KBps is a far cry from the 320KBps-encoded offerings that Radiohead’s released up to this point, so I’m guessing the proprietor of Kids Pushing Kids elected to go the “free download” route, as the site’s proprietor asks, “Wait, am I getting what I paid for? I hate getting what I paid for.” And the folks on Radiohead’s message board aren’t too happy, either (sample comment: “That’s a bit crap, isn’t it?”). But I’m not that surprised–again, this whole digital-release run-up is seeming like the most well-orchestrated press campaign ever, although I’m wondering if this news is going to inspire more blowback than it does sales of the discbox.

160 KBPS In Rainbows tracks? Radiohead? What is this, 1996? Or: wait, am I getting what I paid for? I hate getting what I paid for. [Kids Pushing Kids]

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