slotMusic Will Change How You Buy Music – or not
Why?
That’s my first question on discovering the latest venture by the large labels to convince us that we need another physical media to carry our tunes.
Personally CD’s are still my main alternative to MP3, etc.
I still have my vinyl but that weighs a ton. I loved the ease of tapes and I even tried MiniDisks. In fact I  still record my rehearsal jams on MD but that’s about it.
These Sandisk slotMusic cards are not much more than tweaked 1GB microSD cards with a logo and a special USB-compatible sled: and the fact that they’ll carry albums from BMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group fails to pique my interest.
They’ll be DRM free which, to be honest, is a pleasant surprise.
It’s an attempt to change the way some people buy MP3s, the cynical amongst you might think this is a way to attract people back into real stores. I worked for FOPP and I can tell you that when the chain of stores went into receivership noone was particularly shocked.
Anyhooooo…you’ll get a card you can slot into your cellphone or PC with high-quality MP3s (up to 320kbps), artwork, videos and such, which you can also reuse as a 1GB memory card later, and that’s kinda handy I spose.
If I want, and I generally do, a physical, tangible version of a bought album I’d go for the one with pictures and sleeve notes I can read, touch and yes; perhaps even smell!
I am prepared to be proved wrong – we can only judge after crimbo has come and gone I guess.