Venerable Seattle label Sub Pop Records adopted the practice earlier this year with the much-acclaimed Shins album "Wincing The Night Away."

"It just seems like the fair thing to do," said Andy Kotowitz, the label's director of sales. "CD buyers can rip the album (with) no problem and LP buyers should have the same access. In addition, LP buyers are typically more serious listeners and I think there will be a demand for vinyl long after the CD has been eradicated."

The first label to adopt the practice was North Carolina's Merge Records. Nebraska's Saddle Creek Records, whose roster includes artists such as Bright Eyes and Cursive, followed suit early in 2006.

The cost to the consumer for CDs and LPs is usually the same.

Saddle Creek's manager Jason Kulbel said that while the service has led to increased vinyl sales relative to previous releases, it's still mainly geared toward vinylaficionados.

CDs make up the lion's share of sales (about 80 percent) for the record label, Kulbel said. Digital sales, such as those available at Apple's iTunes store, account for 15 percent. Vinyl only makes up 3 to 5 percent of sales.

"The market for vinyl is very small - it's by far our least popular format," Kulbel said. "Having it as an option is still very important for us."

Every record label is different. Those that have adopted this practice include Merge, Sub Pop, Saddle Creek and Matador. Also, the service mainly applies to new and recent releases. Not every album in a label's back catalog is available.

When buying vinyl, look for a label on the LP packaging that says the record contains a coupon that lets you download the album digitally.

The coupon will say where to redeem your downloads. It will typically have an alphanumeric code that must be entered. The code will expire after one use.

A high-speed Internet connection is best. The albums are usually transferred as zip files that contain all the songs.