'SlotMusic' - Record Labels to Sell Music on MicroSD Cards

Will contain DRM-Free, 320kbps MP3s be available at brick-and-mortar and online stores throughout the US, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart, with Europe to follow.

The record industry is trying to capitalize on rising digital music consumption and the simultaneous decrease in physical album sales (down 19% last year) with the announcement of "slotMusic." The new "slotMusic" physical music format will be microSD cards containing DRM-Free, 320kbps MP3 album versions.. They will first be available for purchase at brick-and-mortar and online stores throughout the US, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart, with Europe to follow.

The selling point behind "slotMusic" cards is that consumers would be able to instantly listen to music from their favorite music artists without the need for a PC or internet connection. Users simply insert the slotMusic card into their microSD-enabled mobile phone or portable media player to hear the music without passwords, downloading, or DRM.

"slotMusic offers consumers an immediate, tangible, and high quality alternative to CDs and digital delivery," said Danielle Levitas, vice president, Consumer, Broadband & New Media, IDC. "This year, more than 1.2 billion mobile phones will ship globally, outstripping portable media players by nearly an order of magnitude - and this trend is accelerating."

The slotMusic cards will be packaged with a tiny USB sleeve ensuring PC, Mac, and Linux compatibility. They will have a 1GB capacity for songs, as well as liner notes, album art, videos, and other creative content of an artist's choosing. Consumers can also use excess space to add their own content.

Rio Caraeff, executive VP 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.

With many music fans long having written off the music sections of many brick-and-mortar retailers the music industry is looking for a cure to physical sale blues. I'm not sure slotMusic is the answer, but at least it's finally trying something new.