You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
NEW YORK '” Just as vinyl once gave way to compact discs as the main physical medium for music, could CDs be replaced now by a fingernail-sized memory card?
Perhaps not entirely, but SanDisk Corp., four major record labels and retailers Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are hoping that albums sold on microSD memory cards will at least provide an additional stream of sales.
The companies unveiled plans Monday to sell memory cards loaded with music in the MP3 format, free of copy protections.
Most albums are still sold in a physical format '” 449 million were sold on CDs in 2007, while 50 million were sold digitally, according to Nielsen SoundScan '” yet CDs are decreasingly popular. Albums sold on CD dropped almost 19 percent last year.
Given this, the record labels '” Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group PLC '” are hoping slotMusic can be another physical revenue source, and one that is more versatile than CDs given the kinds of gadgets people carry around these days.
Unlike when the CD was introduced and people had to buy new players, many people already have the ability to play slotMusic albums, since many cell phones and multimedia players support microSD cards.
These new albums will come with a small USB dongle that lets buyers use them with computers, too. [The USB dongle will also enable users to transfer the songs to iPods, which don't have memory-card slots, via a PC.]
"Particularly in this kind of economic climate, the idea of being able to use an electronic device you already own to enjoy music rather than going out and buying a dedicated player is pretty compelling," said Daniel Schreiber, who heads the audio-video business unit at SanDisk, which created the microSD card format and is working on the technology behind slotMusic.
Schreiber said slotMusic albums will be sold on 1 gigabyte microSD cards, which means they will be able to hold a full album and related content such as liner notes and cover art.
Buyers will be able to use extra space on the cards to hold songs and photos from their own collections.
[The files will be MP3s encoded at a bitrate of 320 samples per second, the highest possible setting ensuring roughly CD-quality sound.]
The cards and dongles will come in boxes similar to current CD packaging, and Schreiber expects the cost of slotMusic releases to be "in the ballpark" of current CD prices.
It's not yet known exactly when '” or how many '” albums will be initially sold in the format, but Schreiber expects retailers to give a "sizable amount of shelf space" to slotMusic albums.
The albums are expected to debut at multiple retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores in the U.S., and later in Europe.
Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of Universal Music Group's eLabs digital music unit, said the label will initially release about 30 titles in the slotMusic format. The titles will include old and new albums, such as one by singer Akon.
"We want to provide the benefits of digital music to people who go to 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 the case, but I don't think we are so tied to that."
NPD Group entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick sees a potential for slotMusic to emerge as a compelling format.
He said the industry needs "desperately" to give people a new reason to head back into the music sections at brick-and-mortar stores.
"Not that we want them out of the gaming section, but once they're done looking at 'Guitar Hero' we want them to come look at the music section," he said.
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
Well I'm surprised they didn't do this before,ofcourse it will make it easier for people to share the albums online,but I like to go out and buy a cd or whatever,I really don't want to buy albums in this format because if I wanted that I would simply download it.
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
I agree I will not be embracing this format either - at least not legally.
They said album sales on CD dropped almost 19% last year. I would dare say those people not buying CD's are still listening to music they are just downloading it instead of buying CD's.
If they think by offering this SD card it will fill the void of of falling CD sales and capture some of these people that are downloading they are in for a rude shock. People switched to downloading because it's fee (ignoring itunes type things).
I know personally if I am going to pay for something I want a damn CD and a booklet and some decent packaging etc etc. If I am not getting that then I will be looking to pick up just the songs as cheaply as possible - i.e. for free! I don't care for their crappy SD cards they can stick em.
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
I agree I will not be embracing this format either - at least not legally.
They said album sales on CD dropped almost 19% last year. I would dare say those people not buying CD's are still listening to music they are just downloading it instead of buying CD's.
If they think by offering this SD card it will fill the void of of falling CD sales and capture some of these people that are downloading they are in for a rude shock. People switched to downloading because it's fee (ignoring itunes type things).
I know personally if I am going to pay for something I want a damn CD and a booklet and some decent packaging etc etc. If I am not getting that then I will be looking to pick up just the songs as cheaply as possible - i.e. for free! I don't care for their crappy SD cards they can stick em.
I agree with what you said,most of the people I know just download using torrents,LimeWire ect.so it's not going to make much difference when it comes to downloading.
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
Yeah, it's totally a record company execs idea because they need to sell a "product" and add addt'l cost to it. Downloading is only going to give them 1 song at a time, with no charge for overhead or "shipping" with it's extra profits.
They need to bag this idea & just give in to downloading. There's gotta be aa huge market for older songs (Stones, Zeppelin, GnR etc). It's easy,fast, and addictive. I don't DL much but if I go onto Limewire or Kazaa (not even sure which one I use) I'll dl a Stones song like Sympathy, then think of another like Angie, then another like you Can't Always Get What You Want.. next thing I know I got 8 songs. That'd be $8.
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
The music industry backed themselves into a corner by underestimating the consumer and disrespecting traditional bricks and mortars record shops by so eagerly hopping into bed with conglomerates like Best Buy and Wal Mart. Since then, they have continued peddling what has always been an inferior physical product in the form of CDs, and have continued pricing themselves into irrelevance. The only physical product I've continued collecting these past few years is vinyl. Any new albums I picked up this year alone have been exclusively vinyl. No vinyl, no sale. I don't need CDs and I'm sure as hell not lining iTunes pockets.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Record Labels to Sell Music on Memory Cards
I can only speak for myself...but I still buy CDs - and one of the reasons for that - other than the obvious 'support the artisit' debates is that they sound better on my stereo. An Mp3 has it's place for a portable player while going for a jog or something - but the primary household version of a song shouldn't be in MP3 quality...
