Chortle launches comedy downloads

COMEDY tracks and albums can now be downloaded direct to your PC, thanks to a new service from Chortle.

Initially a dozen albums and almost 40 individual tracks from the likes of Eddie Izzard, Peter Cook, Ben Elton and Jo Brand have been made available, though this number will swell over the coming months.

Each week, visitors to Chortle will be able to download one free track from a featured album of the week.

Otherwise it costs just 79p to download a single track, £7.99 for a single album or £8.99. All are in MP3 format, so they can be played on a computer, burned on to CD or stored on an iPod or other digital music player.

Chortle editor Steve Bennett said: ‘This is a great way of distributing comedy albums, which traditional record stores hardly ever find space to stock.

‘And what better way to make a long journey pass quicker than be entertained by a comedy album on your iPod? This is a simple way to buy comedy, and will also provide an outlet for more comedians to distribute their work.’

The first batch of tracks to be made available comes though a deal with leading comedy label Laughing Stock, who have made almost all of their catalogue available for download via Chortle.

Published: 25 Apr 2005