Release Records review
Release Records website
| www.releaserecords.com | Selling downloadable music since 2004, I guess... |
Oh boy, this is horrid. These guys really need a redesign. The size of Release Records' downloadable catalog is hard to figure out because the site's navigation is so poor. I would estimate the catalog is not that big and it concentrates heavily on progressive house.
Music can be bought in MP3 format encoded at 256 Kbps. Release Records mainly sells full releases identical to their vinyl counterparts and the prices reflect that, although some MP3 only releases are available for $1.50. Release Records' unique offering is selling DJ mixes. Only one was available at the time of writing, consisting of five tracks and a $4.50 price tag.
| Format | Quality | Price |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | 256 Kbps | about $1.50 / track, depends on release |
The RealAudio previews are over 3 minutes and in good quality. Release Records has a custom RealAudio interface to easily choose between the tracks on the previewed release. I only wonder why is there no track info in the player but insted 95% of the screen estate is used for Release Records' advertising?
Usability of the site is ok, if you can survive the visual vomit. The navigation menus don't work well but it's not all bad: help is clearly up there on every track listing page.
The Canadian Release Records has been around since 2000 and you could say it is run by prog heads for prog heads. They offer good service (I've heard) and I have no reason to doubt they will work their music download store to be a considerable player in the scene.
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