We state which formats are available to download for each track before you make your purchase. When you are looking at the full product details page you will see the associated artwork on the left hand side, and below the artwork you can see a selection of icons that indicate the format of the files you can download.

Please look for these icons next to the artwork and check the following information to learn more about the formats available.

Our audio downloads are offered in one or more of the following formats:


MP3s are universally compatible across all digital media players including iPods, mobile phones, PC and Mac, PDAs and other music playing devices. The vast majority of our audio downloads are available in this format.


These files are predominately compatible with Apple products including the iPod, iTunes and Mac, but they can also be converted to formats that can be played on other digital media players.


WMA files contain standard DRM and require a PC with Windows Media Player installed. DRM-protected WMA files cannot be transferred to iPods and most MP3 players.

Our video downloads are available in the following formats:


The MPEG4 format is encoded at around 1mbps for full-screen viewing on PC or Macs using software such as iTunes or Quicktime. If you intend to view the video on a PC monitor, download and play this file to ensure you watch the video at the highest quality available.


The portable MPEG4 format is a smaller file optimised for viewing on the iPod and other portable devices that support MPEG4, though they can still be played on a Mac or PC. These files are encoded at around 750kbps, so they’ll take up less memory on your device.


WMV (Windows Media Video) files are encoded at higher than 1mbps. If you intend to view the video on a PC monitor, download and play this file to ensure you watch the video at the highest quality available. These downloads will typically be DRM protected and therefore be restricted to PCs running Windows.


Portable WMV - We also offer a version of the WMV file that is encoded at a reduced quality - around 750kbps - suitable for viewing on the smaller screens of standard portable devices that support WMV. Once more, these files are typically smaller in size so they’ll take up less memory on your device, but can still be played on PC. These downloads will typically be DRM protected and therefore be restricted to PCs running Windows.

MP3 is universally compatible, so you can play our MP3 music files on iPods and other Mac products, and they are also ideal for mobile phones and any MP3 player.

We also offer a large portion of our catalogue in AAC, which is compatible with iPods, iTunes and iPhones.

If you’re buying video, look for , which indicates that a format optimised for playback on the iPod and iPhone is available.

For more information on the various formats we offer, please click here.

All new and recently-added MP3 downloads will contain artwork but downloads from the older part of our catalogue may not. However, we are working to deliver artwork with all MP3 downloads. Windows Media files do not include artwork due to technical limitations with this type of file.

You can buy downloads in advance of the displayed release date, or 'pre-order'.

When you do so, your purchase will appear in a special section of your Locker labelled ‘Pre-Orders’, with the release date listed to the right of this information.

Sign in to your Locker on that date to access these downloads.

You can recommend an album, music bundle or video to a friend by entering details in the Tell a Friend section below the track listing for the product.

Tracks are removed from your basket each time you log out of your Golden Discs account or close your browser window.

We will be adding a function in the near future that allows users to save downloads to purchase at a later date.

 Golden Discs is not a subscription-based service. Our customers are only charged for downloads they have purchased, at the point of purchase.

If you are unable to find the tracks that you are looking for via our advanced search facility and Artist A-Z navigation, then we are not able to sell those downloads to you at the moment. It may be that the content you are looking for has not been licensed for digital distribution or that it has not been licensed for the UK.

Please check back from time to time.

 Golden Discs sells digital downloads only. We do offer CDs, DVDs or other physical products in our stores on the high street.

We are instructed by our suppliers to prevent sales of individual tracks from certain products. This may be because the track concerned is too long or the supplier might not have the rights to sell the track individually, such as in the case of soundtracks and compilation albums.

For every download we sell, Golden Discs pays royalties to the record or video companies that supply (or “license”) the audio/video to us, and also to any songwriters involved. The price of each download/bundle that you see in the store will be determined by the prices that we are charged by these companies. Where an album is at a lower price, this typically indicates that the price that we pay to the supplier of that album is also lower.

Our suppliers will often provide more than one format for a particular album and this sometimes results in an album being listed more than once on our site. We do try to keep duplicate listings to a minimum. However, this can be complicated as these versions are subject to appearing, disappearing or changing at any point.