HDtracks is a high-resolution

digital music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...

offering

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

-free music in multiple formats as well as cover art (and liner notes via PDF file downloads for a majority of catalog offerings) with audio CD-quality and high-definition audio

master recording Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

quality download selections.

Origins and expansion

The company was privately founded by David and

Norman Chesky Norman Chesky is a music entrepreneur and executive producer of two Grammy award winning albums. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Manhattan Production Music and Chesky Records. Chesky also co-founded HDtracks, a music download service. He was ...

of the

audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

recording company

Chesky Records Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Che ...

, and is based in New York, NY. The service was launched on March 21, 2008, initially offering only CD-quality 44.1 kHz audio files in

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File ...

format from a small offering of

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

, including audiophile record company catalogs from Chesky Records, Reference Recordings, 2L, and blues labels like

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

. Shortly after its initial launch, HDtracks began offering higher sample-rate and bit-rate recordings such as 96kHz/24bit, 192kHz/24bit and other sound files with higher resolution than a CD, with a focus on

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, classical music, soft rock, and historic recordings targeting adult consumers looking for an alternative to lesser-quality compressed

mp3 files MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Orig ...

Timeline

*On March 21, 2008, HDtracks is officially launched. *In October 2008, HDtracks releases its first catalog offerings in 88.2k/24-bit and 96k/24-bit FLAC formats. *On April 1, 2010, HDtracks added selections from Concord Music Group catalog of high-resolution music. *On April 15, 2010, HDtracks launches

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

from

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, marking the first major label to establish sales of high-resolution, non-DRM-restricted music through HDtracks. *On November 2, 2010, HDtracks releases

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's album '' Band on the Run'' in 96 kHz/24-bit FLAC format. *On March 2, 2011, HDtracks releases ABKCO's Remastered Series of early Rolling Stones recordings. *On July 1, 2011, HDtracks launches with

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

, making it the second major record label to distribute DRM-free, high-resolution audio downloads through the service. *On November 15, 2012, HDtracks launches catalog selections from Sony Legacy, making Sony the 4th major label to join the service. Notable artists include Carole King, Janis Joplin,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. *On January 23, 2013, HDtracks replaced its multiplatform Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) downloader application to native applications for Windows and Mac created by JRiver, thereby making it impossible for users of other platforms such as Linux to download their purchases at this time. *On September 10, 2014, HDtracks launched sites in the UK and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. *On October 21, 2014, a downloader application for Linux appears on the JRiver support forum. *On December 15, 2017, HDTracks released

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' in high resolution. *In April 2020 HDtracks announced that the UK hdtracks.co.uk website would close on April 30, 2020.

References

{{Authority control Retail companies established in 2008 Internet properties established in 2008 Online music stores of the United States 2008 establishments in New York City