Why Radiohead Albums Downloaded Quickly Despite InRainbows.com Delays

Fans who tried to buy Radiohead's In Rainbows after it was released last week encountered delays due to congestion on the site, which is hosted by Virtek. However, those who managed to place an order (or who had pre-ordered the album) were able to download the whole album in seconds, in most cases.

This is because the zip files were delivered by a different company, Packet Exchange, which tapped Level 3's content delivery network (CDN) and high speed IP services, allowing for faster downloads by sending them from a high-speed network that routes around internet congestion.

According to JulieCalland, of Radiohead's management company Courtyard, this system was crucial to the success of last week's release:

"With such a prestigious band as Radiohead, and such an importantrelease, we knew that we had to call on the services of a company whocould perform this delivery without a hitch. Fans had committed moneyupfront for their download and were therefore entitled to get it assoon as it became available and quickly. Ultimately people'sexperiences on release day had to be the music and not the delivery,
and PacketExchange exceeded our highest expectations. TheRadiohead album launch would have not been possible withoutPacketExchange."

Of course, the biggest question surrounding the release is how many people have bought it so far, and what they paid. I have one source in England who says he knows the average price, while another says they will be able to tell me how many albums were delivered within the next couple of days; hopefully I'll have an update on the sales numbers soon.

(via t1r & streamingmedia)