SanDisk leads memory card music distribution effort

SanDisk Corp. is the latest player hoping to elbow its way onto the music-distribution playground.
The Milpitas, Calif.-based company announced plans to sell microSD memory cards with preloaded MP3 music files through brick-and-mortar and online retailers including Best Buy and Wal-Mart. SlotMusic, as the effort is branded, will offer DRM-free tunes from all four major record labels for use in cellphones, digital music players and other gadgets that accept SanDisk’s removable cards.
“Users simply insert the slotMusic card into their microSD-enabled mobile phone or MP3 player to hear the music – without passwords, downloading or digital-rights-management interfering with their personal use,” according to SanDisk’s press release.
The 1 gigabyte cards will allow publishers to load songs, liner notes, album art, videos and other content. Consumers can add their own content to slotMusic cards, which will come with a small USB dongle for computer use.
SanDisk declined to offer details such as when slotMusic cards will be available or how much they will cost. Best Buy currently sells a PNY 1GB microSD card for $10. The smallest SanDisk-branded card is a 2GB model that sells for $24.
SanDisk plans a U.S. launch of the SlotMusic service “soon” before expanding the offering to Europe.
The technology firm and its music-industry partners are hoping to cash in on a viable alternative to CDs, whose revenues continue to plummet as digital downloads – both legal and illegal – gain popularity. And the effort comes as full-track mobile download services have yet to find an audience thanks to a host of factors including overpriced offerings, poor user interfaces and constraining, confusing DRM technologies.