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Digital delivery they cry. We hear you, Apple yells back. And somewhere in the distant background SanDisk can be heard, in what’s barely a whisper; how about songs on an SD card instead?

I admire the effort, SanDisk, I really do. Here’s what they’re offering up:

Albums preloaded onto reusable SD cards; files at 320kbps and DRM free. Couple that with a $20 SlotMusic player ($35 for a brand bespeckled player) and you have a very accessible format. The player also supports regular old SD cards, which means you can purchase a rather inexpensive card and load it up with your own tunes for quick easy listening. No iTunes syncing, no registering computers for usage. And with albums priced at $15 a pop, it’s just reasonable enough to persuade the frugal crowd.

But there’s also a hefty downside. Years of iPods have basically set the standard for mp3 players, and that means text menus at the least, preferably colour. The SlotMusic player offers no feedback. And although it’s DRM free, people seem to be getting used to the idea of cutting out the middle man and buying online (evidenced by iTunes position as music retailer to the world); rousing folks to not only return to the ‘physical’ music store to purchase a brand new format might be a hard sell.

How about this, though; a niche market in the casual music listener? SD cards don’t take up much shelf space, lending themselves to counter-top displays or perhaps even vending machines. A $20 player could be a decent airport pick-up or a gas-station purchase for a road trip. Its limited feature set nearly forbids it from becoming your go-to player, but as a back-up or for casual listeners, it fits all the criteria. What’s more is that the DRM-free tunes can just as easily be loaded onto your iPod when you get back from your vacation. Thoughts?

Certainly one huge factor that’s going to determine the success of the SlotMusic format are the bands they offer. To date, the line-up is as follows (they've got some work to do...:

+ ABBA

+ Chris Brown

+ Coldplay

+ Connie Talbot

+ Daughtry

+ Don’t Quit Fitness Bundle

+ Elvis Presley

+ Five Finger Death Punch

+ Jimi Hendrix

+ Jimmy Buffet

+ Katy Perry

+ Keane

+ Kelly Clarkson

+ Kiss

+ Leona Lewis

+ Lynyrd Skynyrd

+ Metro Station

+ MIA

+ Nelly

+ New Kids On the Block

+ Ne-Yo

+ Nickelback

+ Pussycat Dolls

+ Rihanna

+ Rise Against

+ Robin Thicke

+ Saving Abel

+ Shwayze

+ Solange

+ Sugarland

+ Tim McGraw

+ Toby Keith

+ Usher

+ Weezer

+ Young Jeezy

For the official word, check out the official page.

Source

12 Comments so far!!

Justontime Says:
Well it is not such a bad idea, I think it will have a market - pre teens and grandparents.
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Justontime Says:
I thought they had a slightly odd selection of music available, but my son (13) reminded me that he has a very varied selection on his ipod and he would be happy to listen to many of the people in this list.
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Chocoguy Says:
An Ipod also has the same kind of function. Why are they introducing something that works like an Ipod?
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Ped Says:
They are introducing this as a cost effective alternative. In the this tough econimic time it is company's like Scandisk they realize that luxery items are a luxery and will lose sells if not position correctly in the market.
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Justontime Says:
I have been looking at the products this company has and I think they will do well, I think they understand the market better than many other companies.
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H Songhai Says:
I bought three! Perfect for your back-up MP3 player. I keep two in my car and the other one around the house. I'm ready to get a fourth. This piece works perfectly in my car with the the $29.00 Gigaware FM transmitter. I don't need to install a USB/iPod in-dash radio. For extremely long road trips I might plug in my iPod. But anymore the iPod is too sweet a gadget to be taking out in public. My 80 gig iPod was stolen last October. I looked long and hard at the online reviews of the San Disk Slot Music Player before I bought my first one. My question was could I purchase a 2 gig micro card, put my own music on the card and play the card in the Slot Music player and - of course you can. The folks at San Disk are really bright. They're on the cutting edge of flash, SD and Micro SD science. For cutting the lawn, shoveling the walk, going to the mall, driving in your car, this piece is dynamite!
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Justontime Says:
THanks for all the detail, yes I am convinced I think this is a very good idea and it is cheap enough to use in all sorts of situations.
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Kernow Says:
I like this too, I think I will buy one the price is very good.
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Arlo Case Says:
I was looking for something that allowed quick exchangeable memory for more than a year before scan disk came out with the sansa player. With the sansa you can plug in what your want to hear when you want to hear it be it music, books, or lectures and I listen to all three. I bought two sansas and have not used my MP3 players since. I still do not see the attraction for the expensive ipod and other such players. Yes they may have lots of bells and whistles but I do not want to listen to bells and whistles, and I do not want to watch video on a 3in screen. San disk sansa was just what I was looking for.
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Stav Says:
for the teenagers who have to have the 'in' gadget no matter what, it won't do.. but for everyone else its perfect. A cheap and cheerful way to carry music around, not too expensive so no pain if it is lost or stolen. I have an ipod and i rarely look at the screen display anyway. I prefer to use the remote control to turn it on and off and skip tunes and rarely take the ipod itself out of my pocket.
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Orrymain Says:
Actually, I love this new concept. I don't like when anyone corners a market, and frankly, I'm not a big part of the iTune craze. I am actually the person this product could be marketed towards, the casual listener who needs something more up to date but doesn't want to become an unstoppable iTuner.
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H Songhai Says:
You can double check this... but I was recently swapping discs and mixed up an 8 gig card with my little stack of 2 gig micro cards. (I thought the slot music player could only read 2 gig cards and not higher...) To my surprise the slot music player played my 8 gig card without a hitch - close to fifteen hundred songs on a tiny little micro SD card. You've gotta love having that much media on a card smaller than your thumb nail. I just wish I could read what I am playing. And for that price.
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