| While the demise of the compact disc (CD) has | | | | medium. With figures dropping annually for nearly a |
| spared a good deal of shelf space, it also has pushed | | | | decade, consumers purchased only 511 million CDs last |
| the album to the brink of extinction. And, as anyone | | | | year (down from the peak of 942 million in 2000). |
| who's ever listened to Van Morrison's "Moondance" | | | | The music industry, unprepared and unwilling to deal |
| knows, a great album offers sonic pleasures mere | | | | with the effect of downloads on album sales, has |
| singles can never truly match. Oddly enough, a new | | | | mostly just panicked and reacted preposterously. |
| format called slotMusic(TM) looks at once to eliminate | | | | Along with suing music downloaders (AKA: potential |
| the CD for good and save the album from certain | | | | customers), they've refused to lower CD prices to |
| death. | | | | lure in buyers. Now, the labels are hoping slotMusic will |
| SanDisk, a company known for its flash memory | | | | offer the downloading crowd a more accessible |
| data storage products, has partnered with four of | | | | medium. SanDisk reps claim research indicates that a |
| the top record labels to produce the new music | | | | lot of music listeners who prefer digital music would |
| medium. slotMusic are small memory cards that will | | | | like to have a way to play it in MP3 players and |
| feature full-length albums and additional content, and | | | | phones without first synching the music through a |
| are compatible with MP3 players, computers, cell | | | | computer. |
| phones, game consoles and more. The tiny slotMusic | | | | While slotMusic has the potential for success, will |
| cards (smaller than postage stamps) will start filtering | | | | consumers really go for another physical music |
| into stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart this holiday | | | | format? That remains to be seen. Fact is, it may not |
| season, with prices expected to be comparable to | | | | just be the CD medium that has become outdated, |
| CDs. The music on the card will be in the MP3 format | | | | but the album itself. Nowadays, most people would |
| and, with no digital rights management copy | | | | rather pay a couple bucks to download radio-friendly |
| protection, listeners will be (legally) allowed to | | | | singles from an album than take a risk on the whole |
| transfer music to their PCs, delete songs from the | | | | thing. And that's understandable. Think about how |
| card and fill up open space with their own data (cards | | | | many albums you've liked from start to finish in the |
| initially will have one gigabyte of storage - though | | | | past year. How about in the past decade? At best, |
| that number will be expanded in the future). And, | | | | maybe a handful. Even true album purists will admit |
| slotMusic has another great thing going for it: | | | | the majority of the CDs out there are mostly filler. |
| accessibility. Unlike past music media (e.g. - records, | | | | It's gotten to the point where we believe an album is |
| tapes, CDs), people don't need to have special | | | | good if we like half the songs - really not a strong |
| players to accept the new format since millions of | | | | percentage at all. And that's the fault of both the |
| phones, MP3 players and computers are already | | | | artists and the record labels. The music industry has |
| equipped with microSD card slots. | | | | spent far too long focusing on ways to make money |
| More portable and digitally compatible than the elderly | | | | rather than producing quality products. Unfortunately |
| CD, SanDisk and the labels are betting on slotMusic to | | | | for them, the marketing tool of selling CDs based on |
| "click" with the iTunes generation and help offset | | | | one hit single backfired with the dawn of the |
| plummeting profit margins. Record labels EMI Music, | | | | Internet. Now, the hopes of the music industry and |
| Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music | | | | the album itself rest on the surface of the slotMusic |
| Group all have pledged support for slotMusic and will | | | | card. And that may just be too heavy a burden for |
| release a mix of current and past albums in the new | | | | the tiny device to bear. |