Will slotMusic save the album?

Tag : memory card

Just as vinyl once gave way to compact discs as the main physicalmedium for music, could CDs be replaced now by a fingernail-sizedmemory card?
Perhaps not entirely, but in the US, SanDisk, four major recordlabels and retailers Best Buy and Wal-Mart Stores are hoping thatalbums sold on microSD memory cards will at least provide anadditional stream of sales.
The companies have unveiled plans to sell memory cards loaded withmusic in the MP3 format, free of copy protections.
Called "slotMusic," the new format is meant to address twointertwined trends. Most albums are still sold in a physical format- 449 million were sold on CDs in 2007, while 50 million were solddigitally, according to Nielsen SoundScan - yet CDs aredecreasingly popular.
In the US, albums sold on CD dropped almost 19 per cent last year.
Given this, the record labels - Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group,Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group -are hoping slotMusic can be another physical revenue source - andone that is more versatile than CDs, given the kinds of gadgetspeople carry around these days.
Unlike when the CD was introduced and people had to buy newplayers, many people already have the ability to play slotMusicalbums, since many mobile phones and multimedia players supportmicroSD cards.
These new albums will come with a small USB dongle that lets buyersuse them with computers, too.
"Particularly in this kind of economic climate, the idea of beingable to use an electronic device you already own to enjoy musicrather than going out and buying a dedicated player is prettycompelling," said Daniel Schreiber, who heads the audio-videobusiness unit at SanDisk, which created the microSD card format andis working on the technology behind slotMusic.
Schreiber said slotMusic albums will be sold on 1GB microSD cards,which means they will be able to hold a full album and relatedcontent such as liner notes and cover art. Buyers will be able touse extra space on the cards to hold songs and photos from theirown collections.
The cards and dongles will come in boxes similar to current CDpackaging, and Schreiber expects the cost of slotMusic releases tobe "in the ballpark" of current CD prices.
It's not yet known exactly when - or how many - albums will beinitially sold in the format, but Schreiber expects retailers togive a "sizable amount of shelf space" to slotMusic albums. Thealbums are expected to debut at multiple retailers, including BestBuy and Wal-Mart stores in the US, and later in Europe.
Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of Universal Music Group'seLabs digital music unit, said the label will initially releaseabout 30 titles in the slotMusic format. The titles will includeold and new albums, such as one by singer Akon.
"We want to provide the benefits of digital music to people who goto physical retail environments," he said.
Asked whether he sees the format taking the place of the CD,Caraeff said, "I think we would certainly hope that would be thecase, but I don't think we are so tied to that."
NPD Group entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick sees a potential forslotMusic to emerge as a compelling format. He said the industryneeds "desperately" to give people a new reason to head back intothe music sections at brick-and-mortar stores.
"Not that we want them out of the gaming section, but once they'redone looking at Guitar Hero we want them to come look at the musicsection," he said.
AP