FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, and is an audio file format similar to MP3 but is completely lossless, meaning that audio is compressed without any loss in quality. The audio file is therefore at the full quality of the original CD. FLAC is of a higher quality than audio which is encoded using MP3 or AAC coding (AAC coding is used by iTunes). Our back catalogue of recordings is now available for the first time in FLAC. All future FLAC releases will be at higher than CD quality.
We recommend playing FLAC files in VLC media player when using a laptop or computer. VLC media player is compatible with Windows and Mac (including iPhones and iPads), and can be downloaded HERE.
Currently FLAC files are not compatible with iTunes. However, for many albums we now offer audio in ALAC, the Apple Lossless Audio Codec format, which is fully compatible with iTunes.