Lossless Classical Music, We Have Arrived!
Finally! DRM free, lossless classical music downloads are here! Today Passionato, an online classical music download store was launched in the UK. They are offering music from Universal Music and EMI Classics, as well as Naxos, Chandos, etc. In other words their catalog is frickin’ huge. You can download either in high quality 320kbps MP3 (like the DG store) or lossless FLAC. The latter is identical to a CD.
This means that you can instantly download and then burn an exact duplicate of what you would purchase in a store. You previous quality naysayers should now be satisfied.
Currently they have only launched in the UK, so you have to pay in pounds. Also, they seem to be a tad more popular then anticipated: the site frequently is spitting out “too many users” type messages at the moment. This means you might have to wait until late-at-night GMT before being able to explore and download stuff properly.
Despite these initial hiccups, this is great news for the classical music world.
UPDATE: it looks likes you get a whole bunch of free music just for signing up, although most of these tracks are individual movements it includes a complete performance of Saint-Saens symphony No. 3.