Sub Pop Jumps into the MP3 Retail Arena

Not much to report here, but your favorite neighborhood fanzine turned record label, Sub Pop has started up it's own MP3 retail site.

The selection isn't huge (currently about 200 albums), the bitrate is low (192Kbps), and right now you can only purchase full albums (not singles), but they are working on updating all of that.

What's nice is that they include album art, and when they increase the quality of the rip, you will be eligible to re-download the track for free (I'm looking at you iTunes).

What I'm most excited about is the idea that they'll be focusing on rare and out of print albums a staple of their catalog. With iTunes, Amazon, etc focusing on more commercial catalogs, this move really appeals to the "long tail" theorist in me.

Check out their announcement here.