7Digital Scores Radiohead FLAC Exclusive, Shifts Towards 24-Bit ‘FLAC HD’

Digital retailer 7Digital scored a 32 territory exclusive on Radiohead’s new album "The King of Limbs" in the FLAC lossless 24-bit codec. According to 7 Digital, this is the first new album by a major artist released in this format, and is part of the company's shift to higher quality downloads.

An $11.96 deluxe digital version of "The King Of Limbs" will also include a 16-bit FLAC and AAC 320 kbps version of the album. This allows easy sync and playback on music devices that do not support FLAC format, such as Apple’s iPod. The 32 territories for the Tuesday 3/29 release include the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Austria.

“We support listener choice and strive to offer our customers the highest quality music downloads possible," commented Ben Drury, the CEO 7digital. "That’s why we’re pioneering the move towards higher quality audio formats that offer higher quality music than the CD equivalents."

“Films, television, and visual media have all moved towards higher quality HD formats, and the 24-bit FLAC format is essentially ‘FLAC HD’, continues Drury. "The release of Radiohead’s album is the first new release from a major artist, and we’ll be extensively supporting FLAC and FLAC 24-bit going forward.”