Scottish label’s Studio Master releases to be available worldwide through other online stores; from August Linn Records site will only sell its own releases

Linn Records is refocusing its digital distribution strategy, in a move set to see the company’s 24-bit Studio Master content available via other digital music stores worldwide from next month.

At the same time, the Linn Records site will stop selling recordings from other labels from August, and will concentrate on selling the label’s own recordings.

The winner of Gramophone’s Label of the Year in 2010, Linn has been offering Studio Master downloads for more than seven years, and sales have grown by more than 2500% in that time, with 90% of all downloads from the Linn Records site in Studio Master resolutions.

More recently, Linn has offered a portal for around 100 labels to sell their Studio Master recordings, but from August 25 the Linn Records site will stop selling music from those other labels, and concentrate on the Linn catalogue.

Before that, the company’s acclaimed releases, mainly in the jazz and classical fields, will become available worldwide through a number of third-party digital download services.

Linn MD Gilad Tiefenbrun says that ‘2014 is the year Studio Masters go mainstream’, adding that ‘I’m very proud of the pivotal role Linn has taken in establishing Studio Master as a viable format and in the support we have offered to many other labels in doing so.’

Kim Campbell, head of Linn Records, says that ‘Our new strategy will allow us to reach a wider audience through the distribution of Linn Studio Masters on other digital music stores.

‘We’ve seen a 30% rise in Studio Master downloads on our own site over the last year alone and are forecasting strong growth in the years ahead. The increasing appetite for Studio Master downloads is great for our artists.’

Scheduled for release in on Linn Records in the coming months are sets from Claire Martin with Joe Stilgoe; the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati; pianist Ingrid Fliter; mezzo-soprano Dame Ann Murray; and percussionist Kuniko Kato.

Written by Andrew Everard