When you place an order for digital downloads you will receive an email confirmation from us that contains a link to the Downloads section of your account. The confirmation page on the site itself also provides a link straight to the downloads section in your account: My Downloads
Once at the Downloads section of your account simply click the Download button next to any available order, release or track and this will trigger the download process. Its progress will be tracked by the web browser on your computer or device.
An archive of all your previously purchased tracks will also be stored separately within your account. You can use this archive to download your purchased tracks again should you need to. A download can be triggered three times before the link will expire, but if you need an expired link to be reactivated then you can request this through the “request reinstate” option next the release in your account, or by emailing your request to [email protected].
NOTE: The location that your downloads are saved to on your computer or device will be controlled by your browser. If you have any trouble finding the release once it's downloaded you can find the default location in your browser preferences.
Some Apple/iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad do not offer support for zip files by default and in some cases require downloads to be done via their app store. We therefore advise users of these devices to download tracks to their computers and transfer the files to their Apple devices manually.
Some software audio players, like iTunes, will not play FLAC files.
In the case of iTunes you can easily convert your Flac files to an Apple Lossless format (ALAC), which offers the same sound lossless sound quality, with the same reduction in file size.
You can also encode to Wav or Aiff formats which are larger but supported by virtually all audio players. Wav files are also available for sale at Boomkat if you find this option is preferable.
Converting between different formats should only take a matter of seconds depending on the size of the release.
If you have any problems converting or playing your FLAC purchase please send an email to ([email protected]) and we'll do our best to help
If you have downloaded more than one track from us then the files may be stored in a zip file on your device. Please ensure that any files you’ve downloaded are unzipped before you attempt to play them.
The device you're using to download your purchase will almost certainly have software built in to enable you to play back your audio. Depending on the software it may also have it's own library management system which can copy all your audio into a dedicated folder to keep your computer, tablet or phone organised. In the case of PCs running Windows the built in software will be Windows Media Player, but you can look this up yourself in Help or Support on your device. It's also worth checking the preferences on the software you will be using, so you know, for example, where your music is stored.
If your purchased download won't play, or is producing an error, please email us to let us know. Please include the exact error you're getting and where it occurs, for instance, is it before you can even import the audio into your software player, or after it imported? The more information you provide us with the easier it will be for us to identify and resolve the issue for you.
If you have downloaded more than one track from us then the files may be stored in a zip file on your device. Please ensure that any files you’ve downloaded are unzipped before you attempt to play them.
The device you're using to download your purchase will almost certainly have software built in to enable you to play back your audio. Depending on the software it may also have it's own library management system which can copy all your audio into a dedicated folder to keep your computer, tablet or phone organised. In the case of PCs running Windows the built in software will be Windows Media Player, but you can look this up yourself in Help or Support on your device. It's also worth checking the preferences on the software you will be using, so you know, for example, where your music is stored.
If your purchased download won't play, or is producing an error, please email us to let us know. Please include the exact error you're getting and where it occurs, for instance, is it before you can even import the audio into your software player, or after it's imported? The more information you provide us with the easier it will be for us to identify and resolve the issue for you.
All our MP3's are encoded at a constant bitrate of 320kbps, which is the highest quality available for MP3 files.
For those looking for a wider frequency range and more accurate stereo imaging, then FLAC offers significant reduction in file size while still remaining lossless. This means that the audio will retain the same quality you'd expect from a standard CD.
In cases where extra high definition (24 bit) files are provided to us for a release, then the FLAC and WAV options will be encoded at the same exact quality as the master files.
NOTE: The quality of our FLAC and WAV files is restricted by the quality of the original masters. Some albums may be mastered for vinyl and therefore will have reduced high end frequencies, or they may be rescued from very old vinyl or tape, or include audio sampled from lossy sources. If you still have any concerns about any lossless audio you’ve bought from us then please email us so we can look into it for you.
All our files are completely DRM free, and formatted from the original masters encoded by the labels themselves.
Please note that all our digital releases are stored on Amazon's server cloud, which handles a large amount of data on the internet. Therefore any slow download speeds are unlikely to be down to the server it’s being requested from and are more likely to be down to local network issues which usually resolve themselves quickly - our best advice is to leave it for 30 minutes and try again, hopefully the speed should be back to normal.
If trying to buy a release you get an error message which states, "Sorry, the selected item cannot be sold in [your country]", then this indicates that the distributor or record label have instructed us not to sell this particular release in your country.
Record labels can sometimes license their releases to different labels in different territories. For instance, they may have one label for the United States, and another for the rest of the world. In these cases the label will be forced to instruct stores to restrict sales on their behalf, and we're obliged to enforce these restrictions.
In most cases your download will unzip automatically, but if this is not the case please follow these instructions to decompress the zip file.
On a Mac, navigate to the location of the Zip file in Finder. Double-click on the Zip file. Archive Utility will launch automatically and create a folder with the contents of the zip, within the folder containing the original zip.
On a PC, find the Zip file you want to unzip, Right-click on it, and select "Extract All". In the "Select a File and Destination" window, click "browse" to choose where the unzipped files should be stored (by default, Windows unzips compressed files to their original location). Finally, click "Extract" to unzip the files.
NOTE: The built in software for unzipping files on your computer may be more likely to report an error in zip files where it perceives there to be an issue. While we can't recommend third party software, it may be worth noting that some other software will be more likely to push past these perceived errors and get to your content.
If you're still having trouble, please email us so we can reinstate the download buttons on any purchases you wish, this will allow you to try the download again.
We do our utmost to ensure that all the audio files we sell are legitimate and reliably sourced from either the artist/label, or their authorised distributor.
The audio we receive is in either WAV or FLAC format to start with (i.e. it is never transcoded from a lossy source), and we then use industry standard converters to create MP3, FLAC and WAV from these masters.
If we receive high resolution (24 bit) audio for a release then this will be encoded to our FLAC format at the same audio quality. For compatibility with a wider selection of audio players the 24 bit files will be encoded to our WAV format at standard CD quality, which is 16 bit and 44.1kHz.
NOTE: The quality of our FLAC files is restricted by the quality of the original masters. Some albums may be mastered for vinyl and therefore will have reduced high end frequencies, or they may be rescued from very old vinyl or tape, or include audio sampled from lossy sources.
Our MP3, FLAC and WAV files are generated from the original masters encoded by the record labels themselves. If you notice any unnatural noise or interruptions in the audio you've downloaded from us then this will almost certainly be due to an error with the files at their end. If you think there's a problem then you can email us, letting us know the tracks affected and the exact points where any issue occurs. We can then coordinate getting a fix for you asap.
Please note that some perceived issues will be intentional effects, or artefacts from the recording process itself. In this case there's nothing we can do, so if you're no longer happy with the release please let us know.
Our MP3 and FLAC files are generated from the original masters encoded by the record labels themselves. If you think the audio you've downloaded from us finishes before it should then this will almost certainly be due to an error with the files at their end. If you think there's a problem then you can email us, letting us know the tracks affected and the exact points where any issue occurs. We can then coordinate getting a fix for you asap.
Please note that some tracks will intentionally finish very abruptly. In this case there's nothing we can do, so if you're no longer happy with the release please let us know.
If after downloading your digital purchase you get a message stating that the zip file cannot be unarchived, this almost always indicates that there was an error before the file actually finished downloading. If you think this may be the case then please restart your router and reopen your browser, you can then log into your Boomkat account again and retry downloading the release.
If you're experiencing any network or local issues these are unfortunately outside our control but should be automatically resolved within a couple of hours at most. If you still can't download your purchase please get in touch so we can look into the issue further.
In some cases a mixed or gapless album may still be divided into separate tracks and depending on your settings, your software may insert gaps of 1 or 2 seconds during playback. You may need to remove the tracks and import them again with this setting corrected, but usually it's just a case of turning off this option in your software/devices playback preferences.
There may also be 'mixed' and 'unmixed' versions of the release available, please check to see if our description states that this version is mixed or not and get in touch if you have any queries.
If the above doesn't solve the problem then gaps in playback could be due to the master files we received from the label, and in this case you should let us know so that we can co-ordinate getting it fixed.
If you notice that your download has stopped before it has completed then this usually indicates a temporary connection issue locally, or on your network. You may need to wait for this problem to be automatically resolved, but if you restart your router and re-open your browser then you should be able to try again. If the problem persists, or the download button is no longer available, then please email us.
We keep downloads available in your account for as long technically possible, and as long as licensing agreements will allow. If you need to redownload anything then you just need to log in and go to the Download section of your account, and from there look for the Previously Downloaded subsection: Previously Downloaded
Despite the above, we highly recommend that you create your own backup of your download collection and we cannot be liable for any items that are no longer available through your account.
Some labels offer a free download version of a release when a physical format (most commonly vinyl) is purchased. Sometimes labels include download codes or vouchers inside their physical releases which you can redeem directly from them. Alternatively we also sometimes offer a free download through Boomkat and these will be indicated on the physical format of the release where available.
If you have purchased a physical release from Boomkat that includes a Free Download from us then the download will automatically be dropped into your account as soon as the download becomes available. If the download version is already available then the release will be dropped into your account instantly. If the download version is not available yet, this may mean waiting for the release date before you can access the download from your account. To download the release when it becomes available just log into your account, and you’ll be able to see it within the tab labelled “Awaiting Download” in the Downloads section.
In some cases (depending on the record label) we will be able to manually add a lossless format into your account as well as the MP3. Our system adds MP3 by default so currently you will just need to drop an email into [email protected] to request a lossless format, and if we’re able to provide it then we’ll do so asap.