Music Labels To Try Selling Albums On microSD

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Posted September 22, 2008 at 12:04pm by iClarified

Leaders in music, retail and flash memory technology today announced they're bringing consumers an innovative, new physical music format, dubbed "slotMusic". microSD cards will soon be made available with pre-loaded, high quality, DRM-free MP3 music of top artists from EMI Music, SONY BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. A selection of slotMusic cards will first be available at brick-and-mortar and online stores throughout the U.S., including Best Buy and Wal-Mart, with Europe to follow. A complete list of slotMusic albums, availability and pricing will be announced in time for the coming holiday season. SanDisk Corporation, inventor of the ubiquitous microSD format, is leading the technology development behind slotMusic.

slotMusic cards enable consumers to instantly and easily enjoy music from their favorite artists without being dependent on a PC or internet connection. Users simply insert the slotMusic card into their microSD-enabled mobile phone or MP3 player to hear the music without passwords, downloading or digital-rights-management interfering with their personal use.

"slotMusic offers consumers an immediate, tangible, and high quality alternative to CDs and digital delivery," said Danielle Levitas, vice president, Consumer, Broadband & New Media, IDC. "This year, more than 1.2 billion mobile phones will ship globally, outstripping portable media players by nearly an order of magnitude - and this trend is accelerating."

slotMusic cards will be packaged with a tiny USB sleeve ensuring seamless interoperability with all computers Windows, Linux and Mac. The upshot is that slotMusic will enjoy an unparalleled, pre-existing Music, Retail and Tech Partners Announce slotMusic installed base at launch: hundreds of millions of multimedia-phones, virtually any computer with a USB connector and a growing number of in-car sound systems will be able to play slotMusic cards.

The MP3-based music tracks will be played back at up to 320 kilobytes per second (kbps), offering a high quality music experience for the MP3 format.

Musicians will find slotMusic cards offer a compelling new way to express themselves to their fans. With 1GB (gigabyte) of capacity, slotMusic cards can hold songs, as well as liner notes, album art, videos, and other creative content that an artist may choose. Consumers can also add their own content to a slotMusic card, creating a personal plug-and-play media library.

Music Labels To Try Selling Albums On microSD

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Lyrrad - September 22, 2008 at 6:07pm

It seems like an idea cooked up by some people who are not in touch with technology. They are treating a technology that was clearly designed as temporary storage and using it has permanent storage. They are equating a microSD card with a CD Rom in a time when the CD Rom and its recording methodology is declining in popularity. Case in point Blue Ray, there is a reason its not over taking DVD, cost of the players and the availability of other HD playback methods that as Robert points out, do not require you to leave your home to acquire. This seems like just a way for SanDisk to move some inventory. As I said, this horse is eating dirt at the starting block.

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Eliot - September 22, 2008 at 3:41pm

Lyrrad, I agree. The music industry is not making a good decision here (again). Do they think people will buy a MicroSD album, take their existing storage card out, put the MicroSD album in, copy it to the phone's limited internal storage, take the MicroSD album out, put in thier existing MicroSD card and then transfer it to the their existing storage card, and then delete the files coppied to the internal storage? I think NOT. Or maybe they expect people to treat MicroSD like cassettes, records, eight tracks, or cd's? Only put it in the device when you want to listen to it? NO WAY! Downloading or ripping music and saving it to the storage card or built in hard drive is the only way to go...for now.

Robert - September 22, 2008 at 3:05pm

I agree with Lyrrad. Why, oh why, would I ever go back to burning gas to get to the record store and pay extra for plastic media that take up space, and just plain hard to find. Music stores never have THAT particular record that YOU want, in stock. It's a stupid idea, no doubt about it, and it's doomed from the start. If you're tech-savvy enough to be messing around with microSD's, you're savvy enough to buy online.

Lyrrad - September 22, 2008 at 1:55pm

You might as will bring back the 8 track. The days of purchasing music on media such as vinyl, tape and CD is dead and this is not environmentally friendly. In my basement I have stacks of CD that I will never play again, why would I go back to collecting plastic? Have you ever used one of the microSD cards, they are too small, they are about the size of a contact lens. Imaging having 30 of 40 of these on your desk and searching for the right one. Or trying to teach your mom or grandmother how to use it, or try taking that in and out of your blackberry (yeh, no SD slot on the iPhone, thanks Steve). Downloading via iTunes or Windows media player works, why would I want to go back to media? As broadband speeds go up and more available on hand held devices, the need for class B media goes down, my prediction, this horse is dead right out of the gate.

Eliot - September 22, 2008 at 1:00pm

Too bad there is no MicroSD slot in the iPhone for this. Another reason I'm glad I have the TILT. The wireless bluetooth file transfers between my Macs and the TILT work great too.

Kevin Homehill - September 22, 2008 at 12:55pm

Whohoo! I thought about this concept years ago... The industry should be more innovative and creative, when it comes to the end-product and how to offer it.