Anyone confused about why SanDisk Corp. would
attempt to
introduce a new physical medium for selling music will be doubly confounded, if not necessarily surprised, to learn that the company is also selling new dedicated hardware on which to play the music. That'd be the Sansa slotMusic Player, which SanDisk is unveiling today alongside the slotMusic tunes-on-a-chip format that the company
announced last month. The player costs around $20, appears to fit snugly in your palm, and doesn't require any Internet or PC connectivity. (Screenshot below.)
According to Daniel Schreiber, the senior vice president of SanDisk's audio-visual business unit, there are still plenty of consumers who either can't or don't load music onto iPods and other devices. (He says 90% of women have someone else load music onto their portable devices for them, a shocking stat that I still don't quite believe.) Those who struggle with such gadgetry might still be interested in a plug-and-play physical media format that feels less clunky than a CD, especially one compatible with their phones, he says.
And so SanDisk has thrown its efforts and advertising
dollars behind the tiny
slotMusic chip, sold in a box with CD-sized cover art for up to $15 a pop. As an alternative to selling a basic-black player to go with that first chip, though, SanDisk will tempt consumers with an artist-branded version (about $35) that incorporates album art onto the outside of the player itself -- not a digital image, but a printed label -- and comes with the chip pre-loaded.
"We see the players as accessories to the cards, not the other way around," Schreiber says, and although I think consumers might agree, some of the 40 major-label artists rolling out slotMusic albums this week might not outlast even a short-lived physical format. Might artist-branded Katy Perry players be embarrassing accessories one day, destined to pile up in thrift stores and on basement shelves?
So will consumers who want to hear multiple albums have to carry a bunch of tiny chips around with them, since SanDisk's player doesn't have on-board memory? Yes and no. The players will accept SanDisk's microSD cards with up to 16 gigabytes of memory, meaning that someone with a modicum of PC savvy can acquire a large blank card and fill it up with music for on-the-go play. (All the files sold on the chips are DRM-free.)
Schreiber readily admits that SanDisk isn't competing directly with digital downloads and over-the-air sales, so much as offering a tangible music format for people who aren't completely comfortable with non-physical music yet. So while slotMusic won't threaten to cut into sales of innovative startups or established digital retailers, it's likely aimed at the Wal-Mart/Best Buy consumer who's less tech-savvy than most. That's not a small market, but it doesn't sound like a growth market to me either.
I'm expecting a sample of the slotMusic player in the next day or so. Watch this space for a further report on its convenience, sound quality, and cool factor.
-- Paul BonanosSee press release from SanDiskSee Sept. 22 post from Tech Confidential concerning slotMusic
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