Big four labels adopt slotMusic memory cards for music sales

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 06:34

Your IT - Entertainment

Sales will begin in the US later this year (Best Buy and Wal-Mart have joined the slotMusic club), followed by Europe.

microSD has its pros and cons for this application.

The obvious advantage is that it is much smaller than a CD, yet has around 50 percent more capacity.

But is it too small? It's hard to imagine retailers accepting the product unless its bubble-wrapped on a 8cm (3in) square or larger card. And the cards themselves are very small and therefore easily mislaid if you carry more than the one in your phone or player.

This suggests they may be delivered in plastic cases of similar dimensions to those used with full-sized SD cards. The packaging is starting to build at a time when people are increasingly thinking 'green'.

And the inclusion of a USB adaptor - however small - with each slotMusic album increases the waste.

Sure, you can argue that mobile phones and portable music players are inherently unsound in terms of materials and energy use, but that's not really the point. We're talking about content for products that have already been purchased.

What about cost? See page three.