(1888PressRelease)
November 29, 2007 - Deutsche Grammophon has always looked to the future while honoring the past. Renowned for pioneering the most advanced recording technology year after year, DG maintains its technological edge over the competition in the emerging digital download arena: Its second to none catalog, recorded in superlative sound that is now available to the downloading consumer, means, as always, that Deutsche Grammophon continues to set the standard for the recording business.
The DG Web Shop will be the first to be available worldwide in 42 countries, expanding download availability to many countries that have been neglected by the leading download retailers on the Internet.
This “music boutique” is Deutsche Grammophon’s answer to consumer demand for a full-service portal online. With the decreasing number of traditional record stores, as well as limited and hard to search download offerings, Deutsche Grammophon leads the way to give the consumer every possible refinement of shopping for digital music imaginable.
Fully integrated into Deutsche Grammophon’s newly redesigned web portal, the DG Web Shop’s easy to use search functions assist any music enthusiast to find and select music for instant download. Twenty-four hundred full-length albums and box sets in maximum MP3 quality are available for to choose from. A bit rate of 320 kilobits/second (kbps) delivers to the listener musical enjoyment that is dations, useful commentary and generous sound samples, both veteran and neophyte indistinguishable from a CD and significantly exceeds the usual download standard of 128-192 kbps. In addition, the DG Web Shop offers more than 1,000 downloadable album booklets, comprehensive information on the artists and composers, promotional videos and tour dates with links to the local concert-ticket sellers.
The direct route to top quality
The detailed search function in the Web Shop, allows selection by, but not limited to, genre (such as chamber, keyboard, vocal, etc.), composer, artist, awards, press reviews or any combination thereof. Empowered by this intelligently designed search engine, the DG Web Shop consumers can comfortably sift its rich offerings for whatever they desire. By comparison, searching other download sites for DG recordings can seem like wandering through a labyrinth. Useful support from the DG Web Shop also comes in the form of carefully compiled playlists and current recommendations, based on quality not hype.
Among the highlights of the DG Web Shop are almost 600 album titles no longer available as CDs, specially converted into MP3 files for the DG Web Shop and now available as downloads. Adding to the excitement is the promise of more out-of-print titles to follow. Digitizing every one of its great recordings is Deutsche Grammophon's goal. The DG Web Shop will become an unparalleled trove of music of historic artistic and significance, downloadable whenever a music lover wishes.
All titles in the DG Web Shop are offered as 320 kbps without Digital Rights Management (DRM), as part of Universal Music Group’s ongoing market tests of DRM-free downloads. This means that DG Web Shop downloads will be compatible with all portable music players including iPods and Walkmans; and, of course, are burnable to CD. Visitors to the DG Web Shop have the choice of buying entire albums, collections of albums and box sets – or individual movements, complete works and individual pieces. In contrast to many other digital download services, all tracks on the DG Web Shop are available for sale regardless of length.
Now music fans without any downloading experience can enjoy the outstanding technical, artistic, and musical quality to which are they are accustomed from Deutsche Grammophon. Downloading one track costs around $/€1.29, while an entire album sells for between $/€10.99 and $/€11.99. The downloading procedure is a quick three-step user-friendly process for buying Deutsche Grammophon recordings. Moreover, the site also contains a state-of-the-art animated “Quick Start Guide” whereby the download novice quickly and easily becomes download savvy.
All listeners welcome!
Deutsche Grammophon’s new Web Shop not only targets and will delight the cognoscenti but will gratify listeners intrigued by classical music who want to learn more about it. This group of people will discover that the DG Web Shop also tailors its services to their needs. With its informative recommenmusic lovers will find much to explore. The site is conceived so that the shopper can dash in and out in minutes with their purchase, or can spend hours learning, listening and downloading. It exemplifies Deutsche Grammophon’s continued quest for innovation and quality as it approaches its 110th anniversary.
As Christopher Roberts, President, Classics & Jazz, Universal Music Group International emphasizes, “The DG Web Shop will play a defining role in the digital marketplace – superior audio quality, easy to use and compatible with all players. Now the greatest classical music recordings are available worldwide.”
www.dgwebshop.com
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