Labels Releasing Music On 1GB MicroSD

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Forget buying an album on a USB stick, SanDisk just convinced the big labels to release (DRM free, thankfully) music on a 1 GB 15mm x 11mm x 1mm microSD card. And then they convinced Best Buy and Walmart to sell these things. Check out the attached Press Release for more information.

The New York Times says a source puts the album price at $7-$10, which is amazing given that the retail price of the SanDisk microSD card alone is currently about $8.50. Included with every purchase is a USB converter, which adds more to the price. Sure, profit margin is built into that price, but it still doesn’t leave much for the labels. My suspicion is the price will be higher, perhaps even more than actual CDs.

USB drives seem like a much more reasonable way to distribute music. All computers support USB, and they’re a lot harder to lose than a fingernail sized flash drive. But the people behind slotMusic are betting that mobile phones, many of which have microSD slots, will drive sales. Buy the album at Walmart and listen to it as you leave the store.

Except that won’t happen, since free on-demand streaming music is also available many phones with a browser through services like iMeem and, later this week, MySpace Music. Hell, I can watch virtually any music video ever recorded with my iPhone on Youtube in about three clicks. A much better business model is to sell mobile users the song as a download if they like the stream, or an even higher-margin ringtone.

Get one of these while they last, because they’ll be collectors items by this time next year. The future of music is free streaming and (also free, eventually) downloads, not physical media.

View: slotMusic Press Release slotmusic.org

(4 replies) #1 GreyWolfSC on 23 Sep 2008 - 14:31

I still don't get the point. If they can do this why not just let you bring your own memory into the store and plug it into a gang-loader?

#1.1 Skyfrog on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:37

I don't know what a gang-loader is but I would imagine they want to sell the memory cards too, not just music.

#1.2 Majesticmerc on 23 Sep 2008 - 19:16

Yeah what is a gang-loader? It sounds like something that gets done to you in prison.

#1.3 michael.dobrofsky on 24 Sep 2008 - 01:19

Gang-loaders sound cool - how much per hour?

#1.4 zape on 24 Sep 2008 - 11:20

(GreyWolfSC said @ #1)

Gang-loader is not a word.

Imagine if I said "You are lopeterulopt!"; Thats not a word either.

(5 replies) #2 njlouch on 23 Sep 2008 - 14:33

Still hung up on physical media, aren't they!

#2.1 Majesticmerc on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:10

I like my CD collection!

#2.2 Valiant on 23 Sep 2008 - 17:12

Physical media rules. having a collection of music or movies just on a hard drive is so lame.

You can't beat having things in real life and being able to hold them and look at the art work etc.

The future is going to be so dull and soul-less.

#2.3 afusion on 23 Sep 2008 - 20:01

(Valiant said @ #2.2)

I couldn't agree with you more.

Just wait you'll see more pirates because of this lol

#2.4 excalpius on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:29

Modern music buyers have never even owned a CD. They won't be buying these either.

#2.5 Skyfrog on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:37

I see kids buying CDs at Target and Wal-Mart all the time, and I'd say many consumers today still own or have owned cassette tapes. The CD may go away someday but it's a bit premature to say that people today have never had a CD. I bought a new vinyl LP just this year off Amazon actually.

(2 replies) #3 neufuse on 23 Sep 2008 - 15:32

or we could just let people download it DRM free? if you are gona give them a device with DRM free songs why in the world cant we just DOWNLOAD if DRM free?

#3.1 Burst404 on 23 Sep 2008 - 15:55

#3.2 Skyfrog on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:39

Because Sandisk wants to sell memory cards. Wouldn't be much point for them to be involved in it otherwise.

(1 reply) #4 ViperAFK on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:19

320 mp3? Why the hell not lossless? that's retarded.

#4.1 rajputwarrior on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:32

cause people don't know what lossless is, and everyone knows what mp3's are...

(1 reply) #5 Bryanhoop on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:33

Until this is lossless....no go. I'd have to transcode anyway for my portable, so what's the point?

#5.1 Kushan on 23 Sep 2008 - 17:38

(Bryanhoop said @ #5)

What kind of PMP can't play MP3's?
That's the point with this, EVERYTHING plays MP3's and as a business, it makes sense to target the largest market you can. Your beef should be with the people who produce PMPs, but don't add support for open standards like FLAC.

(1 reply) #6 gnuman on 23 Sep 2008 - 16:59

It is ridiculous that they are now going to release music on a 1GB card. What the heck is taking up the rest of the space if they are using MP3 format? Advertising?

Having a "jukebox" where you can go in and put music onto your own memory stick would be a cool service think of it as a vending machine where you fill up your card and that's it.

#6.1 ir0nw0lf on 24 Sep 2008 - 13:48

I'd love to see say a 320 MP3 set *and* a lossless FLAC set on the same card, perhaps lyrics and album art or whatever they can cram on it.

#7 Gabe3 on 23 Sep 2008 - 17:36

i'll stick with downloading

#8 hotdog963al on 23 Sep 2008 - 18:28

And so the artwork is once again made smaller ;_;

#9 shakey_snake on 23 Sep 2008 - 18:32

this is gimmicky

#10 Skyfrog on 23 Sep 2008 - 19:47

They're trying this with movies too, Ghostbusters has been released on a USB stick.

(1 reply) #11 steelhand on 23 Sep 2008 - 19:51

I'm going to assume that the thought process is; "If they buy enough of these microSD cards, then we'll front the money to make them loadable, a'la a kiosk." While records labels seem to be inherently stupid, you can guarantee they are greedy and won't try and milk a situation for all it is worth. In which case, floating this format and seeing what the early adopter market is and then adding the kiosks later wouldn't be surprising. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the "loadable" albums priced within 90% of the "loaded" albums, in a bid to up profits.

#11.1 RangerLG on 24 Sep 2008 - 13:11

My favorite feature on my new car is the USB port in my console.

Oops, this was supposed to be a reply to post 12.

(3 replies) #12 MulletRobZ on 23 Sep 2008 - 20:37

This won't work, especially since no car that I know of is equipped to play songs off a USB key or a MicroSD slot. Not to mention, the iPhone and many consumer flip phones don't even support MicroSD expansion slots.

#12.1 Justin- on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:01

They sell car CD players now with a USB port in them so you can just plug that in and listen to your music.

When I looked at them about a year and a half ago, none were really "great" looking for a lower budget, but I'm sure they are a bit better than they were that long ago.

#12.2 JaredFrost on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:21

Keywords being "that you know of", the stereo in my car has a usb port, it's great, I've even see stereos with MicroSD
slots, I think it's a great idea and I hope flash as the physical media for music/movies/games takes off.

#12.3 roadwarrior on 24 Sep 2008 - 05:50

Hell, Walmart sells car stereos that have SD card slots in them for $70 or so. Many consumer phones DO have MicroSD slots, including most models of the RAZR, and pretty much every other phone (besides the iPhone) that supports playback of MP3s. I really think that MulletRobZ needs to get out more, as he clearly has no knowledge of what is actually on the market these days.

(2 replies) #13 WAR-DOG on 23 Sep 2008 - 20:46

my question is, can you delete the songs from the SD card?

#13.1 Airlink on 24 Sep 2008 - 02:03

Of course you can. There isn't even any DRM on these things, why would you think they're read-only?

#13.2 ir0nw0lf on 24 Sep 2008 - 13:50

(WAR-DOG said @ #13)

From one of the articles on the net, the card is supposedly not read/write protected at all. They are doing that in case there are extras put out that the end-user can then add to the card.

(3 replies) #14 C_Guy on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:20

Next thing you know they will release music on compact disc! Cheaper media, just as portable, and they play in cars equipped with CD Players. Now THAT would be a step forward!

#14.1 Skyfrog on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:39

Wait, a CD is just as portable as a card the size of your thumbnail?

#14.2 MulletRobZ on 23 Sep 2008 - 21:49

(Skyfrog said @ #14.1)

Well it's nowhere near as easy to lose as a MicroSD card, LOL!

#14.3 RangerLG on 24 Sep 2008 - 13:13

But, can you put a CD in your media player that has a microSD slot?

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