Downloading FAQs

How do I unzip my album download?

When you download an album from our site, it arrives on your computer in a compressed format called zip. Before you can add the music to your library and listen to it, you’ll need to decompress, or “unzip” it. Doing so is very easy:

If you’re on a Mac, double-click the file. You’re done.

If you’re on a PC, right-click the file and choose Extract All… You’re also done. Don’t see an “Extract All…” option? Try renaming the file to something simple, like “music.zip”. The important thing is to make sure the name ends with “.zip”. Then right-click it again. You should now see “Extract All…” in the menu. If you still don’t see an Extract All… option, double-click the file. This will open a window listing the files inside. Press Ctrl+A to select all the files, then drag them into a folder or onto your desktop. This will extract them, for sure.

What!? That doesn’t work either? You may be amongst the elite few who simply don’t have unzipping software built in to their PC. Easy to rectify: there are some free unzipping programs for windows such as Zipeg, 7-Zip, PeaZip and Hamster Free Zip (not a typo).

My file downloaded as a link, not a .zip file

If your file downloaded as www.thosepoorbastards.com or something similar (this usually happens if you are using Safari), simply rename the file as a .zip file (like tpb.zip) and unzip as you normally would.

My download got to 42% complete (or 13% or 84% or…) and then just stopped. What should I do?

My download is taking forever. Suggestions?

Go ahead and stop the download,  and if you’re on a wireless connection try plugging directly in. If the download stops again, or the speed is still slow, it could be that a firewall or other internet security tool is in the way. Temporarily disable what you can, then try again. If that doesn’t help (or simply doesn’t apply), you might need to try your download using another internet connection — some ISP’s throttle the speed of large downloads.

When I try to unzip my album
…I get an error message.
…I get a message saying the zip file is empty.
…I’m prompted to enter a password.
…some of the tracks are missing.

All of these errors indicate the same thing: that the downloaded file is incomplete, probably due to a hiccup in your internet connection. The solution is to try downloading the album again. Album downloads can be pretty large, so if you’re on a wireless connection you should definitely try plugging directly in. You can verify that your download is complete by right-clicking it and selecting Properties (or if you’re on a Mac, by clicking it and choosing File > Get Info). The size should match the file size indicated on the download page.