AfterDawn: News

Paul McCartney releases latest album DRM-free, high quality

Sir Paul McCartney and his producer and collaborator Youth, under the name The Fireman, are offering their latest CD as DRM-free digital downloads in either 320kbps bitrate MP3s, FLAC files or Apple Lossless files.

The new album, 'Electric Arguments’ is available in many different bundles at The Fireman website.



For those who want even better quality, the group is offering a ‘Digital + Deluxe Limited Edition,’ which includes a "full vinyl package, 13 track CD, 7 track CD containing bonus mixes and alternate versions, DVD containing hi-definition audio recordings 24bit 96Khz, DVD containing multi-track session files for a selection of the album tracks allowing you to remix, exclusive art print, extensive booklet and immediate download of files."

The album itself has received rave reviews in the UK since its release in November. Its also good to see more top artists embracing DRM-free models.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Dec 2008 21:28

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• 17 comments

• khmernize

  Sir Paul McCartney is really trying to please everybody with all these options to buy his CD. Very creative and smart business planning.

  10.12.2008 22:27 #1

• atomicxl

  I wonder if the FLAC files are HD also? I know MP4 and WMA support 96kHz/24bit.
  
  I wonder if no DRM will really make people buy the MP3s or if instead of CD rips on torrent sites we'll just see the official MP3s being posted?

  10.12.2008 22:54 #2

• Altair2

  At last! Legal DRM downloads in a variety of formats at a reasonable price. I know this album is already on the torrent sites but I've put my money where my mouth is and bought it to encourage other artists to follow suit. Let's hope the record companies see the utter madness of the moronic Neanderthal DRM mongers, consign them to the dustbin of history, and let's look forward to more new music in the form that customers want, so that customers and artists alike benefit.

  11.12.2008 03:47 #3

• Altair2

  Oops, I meant drm free of course :-)

  11.12.2008 03:53 #4

• emugamer

  I will buy this as long as there is no price difference for quality (i.e. the FLAC format being more expensive than the mp3 format). Great to see established artists embrace DRM free media.

  11.12.2008 07:26 #5

• Altair2

  You can get the mp3's AND the lossless files in the one download for $8.99

  11.12.2008 11:46 #6

• maxikaz

  i like Paul McCartney and the price is not high, i must buy his cd and let him earn some money
  

  
  

  11.12.2008 12:00 #7

• pierrrre

  Paul McCart...who?

  11.12.2008 13:00 #8

• squidge37

  will it blend?

  11.12.2008 14:46 #9

• emugamer

  Originally posted by Altair2: You can get the mp3's AND the lossless files in the one download for $8.99Wow, nice deal. You can either buy each track on Amazon for $0.99 each, the physical CD for $9.69, or the mp3's and lossless FLAC for $8.99 from his site. That is what I call choice. If I like the 30-second samples on Amazon, I may buy it all from the Fireman site. This really is a step forward for music distribution.

  11.12.2008 16:25 #10

• Altair2

  You can choose either flac or apple lossless - A nice option for me as all of my music is in apple lossless and it saved me the flac conversion chore.

  11.12.2008 19:48 #11

• nintenut

  Originally posted by atomicxl: I wonder if no DRM will really make people buy the MP3s or if instead of CD rips on torrent sites we'll just see the official MP3s being posted?
  It worked for me!

  11.12.2008 20:17 #12

• Mez

  He was always smart and obviously still is. He has the clout to make it happen. Who in their right mind would buy DRMed 128 BR music for $1/tune? Maybe the media mafiaa will learn how to make some money. What good are the DRMs? They can be taken off easy enough and there is no DRM on a CD. With pure digital audio capture you can duplicate anything that is played through a sound card. The only way you can prevent a copy is not allow then to be played on a computer.

  12.12.2008 08:10 #13

• lantrix

  Originally posted by Mez: The only way you can prevent a copy is not allow then to be played on a computer.Sony tried that remember? EPIC FAIL.

  16.12.2008 08:18 #14

• Mez

  lantrix, no I don't but then I would not buy any music that Sony would profit in. They are the worst of the worst.

  16.12.2008 09:06 #15

• lantrix

  Originally posted by Mez: lantrix, no I don't but then I would not buy any music that Sony would profit in. They are the worst of the worst.By the way I meant Sony's epic fail. There was something about some software that got installed if you played their CDs on a PC. Apparently it had a rootkit in it.
  Agree on the Sony profiting as well.

  16.12.2008 20:57 #16

• Mez

  Yes! Now I remember. That was a while ago. I hope they got their asses sued off. If you killed the autoload function all their work was for naught.

  17.12.2008 07:20 #17