A couple months ago I picked up Vampire Weekend’s self-titled release on vinyl. Inside was a coupon with a code to download the full album on MP3. The code was good for up to 3 downloads.

Vampire Weekend Vinyl

This is exactly how physical media companies need to approach digital media. It’s not going anywhere and only going to get stronger, so EMBRACE it, don’t be afraid of it. I’d like to see this kind of thing more widespread, not just with music, but also movies (DVD and Blu-ray) and especially print media.

It would be great to buy a book and have it come with a coupon code to download a digital copy of the book (Kindle, Nook, or plain EPUB).

Here’re my quick recommendations (i.e. not a TON of thought here) on several physical media formats.

  • BOOKS: For hardcover books, include a coupon to download a digital copy of the book, preferably in the format of your choice (Kindle, Nook, iBooks, etc.). The code would be single use and only for one digital format.
  • CDS and RECORDS: Include the option to download the full contents of the work in MP3 format. Lossless like FLAC would be nice but not necessary.
  • MAGAZINES: A yearly subscription to the magazine includes a yearly subscription to the magazine in digital format. Again, like books, the format could be the choice of Kindle, Nook, iBooks, or even the associated iPad app. I don’t agree with magazines creating a separate iPad app for each issue. There should be one app per magazine (i.e. the GQ app) and that app handles multiple issues.
  • DVDS and BLU-RAYS: This has been started with the “digital copy” concept. Admittedly I have no first-hand experience with this, but from what I’ve read, the media rights people have their hands all over it as you’d expect. The digital copy you get access to should be more akin to an MP3.

Physical and digital media should (and will) coexist together. I like both and will continue to consume both.

Vampire Weekend Vinyl