SanDisk & Major Labels Introduce SD Card Format
A new physical format dubbed slotMusic which utilizes pre-loaded SanDisk microSD cards is being introduced by EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music. The cards will first be available in the U.S. at retailers including Best Buy and Wal-Mart with Europe to follow. Titles, availability and pricing which is expected to be comparable to CDs, will be announced prior to the holiday buying season.
While today’s announcement focused on the majors, a SanDisk spokesperson
confirmed that the format is available to indie labels and that several are
also planning holiday launches. Filled with 320 KPS mp3’s, the cards come bundled with a USB sleeve insuring campatibilty with millions of cell phones, computers and other portable devices. With a 1GB capacity, slotMusic cards can also hold liner notes, album art, videos, and other content.
With consumers migrating to downloads delivered via the net and over the air, it is unlcear that they will favor any new physical format. But compatibility with mobile phones, as well as, the capacity to deliver additonal content offers real potential.
i don’t know about this…they’d have to make it look hot or sell them with some packaging i bet regardless…unless it was almost like a thing like redbox for music but without returning it…and it shot out flash cards
uhhhh minidisks anyone…….never worked.
I think it just removes a barrier to honest lazy people who would normally rip a cd to mp3 upon buying the cd. Sometimes these people would be able to download it faster than it would take to rip and label all the files.
Def pretty interesting. Will it catch on? I doubt it. But the one thing that miss about digital releases are the liner notes. I was always into checking them out.So that does intrigue me a bit.