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Thread: New digital music format ?

  1. #1
    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    New digital music format ?

    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...tal-music.html

    Labels launch slotMusic format, miss point of digital music

    By Jacqui Cheng | Published: September 22, 2008 - 11:36AM CT


    Now that the online music market is hoppin', it's time to introduce a new, not-very-ubiquitous physical format! That's the thought that apparently ran through the collective minds of SanDisk and the Big Four music labels, it seems, as they announced an "innovative" physical format called slotMusic on Monday morning. slotMusic is actually a tiny, flash-based microSD card with a full album's worth of MP3s slapped onto it, which will then be sold through a number of brick-and-mortar and online stores. The idea is to sell full albums in a smaller and more portable format than CD that can supposedly be played directly on a variety of devices. The problem is that the physical format ship has sailed, and slotMusic is destined to sink.
    According to SanDisk, slotMusic cards "enable consumers to instantly and easily enjoy music from their favorite artists without being dependent on a PC or internet connection." After purchasing the SD card from a Best Buy or Wal-Mart, for example, listeners will be able to stick it into a microSD-capable phone or MP3 player and listen to the album instantly—no downloading or annoying DRM authorization required. The cards will even be packaged with a USB card reader so that users can connect them to their computers and listen to the music or transfer it off the card.
    The DRM-free MP3s on the card will be available in a reasonably high-quality 320kbps. Artists and albums have not yet been announced, but the selection will come from EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, or Warner Music, so you can expect that major acts will be well represented at the onset. Finally, users can transfer their own data to the 1GB microSD cards, like other music or their own notes, documents, videos, etc. There are apparently no restrictions on what can be done with the cards once they are purchased.

    slotMusic is just like a CD or vinyl, but not! You see?
    The purpose of slotMusic, as evidenced by the video on the product's main page, is basically to provide another option for customers who might otherwise cherry pick their favorite tracks by inventing a new way to sell full albums on something other than CDs or vinyl, and to do so on something tiny. SanDisk touts the fact that slotMusic can be used on multiple devices, and the obvious goal is to sell to those who are on the run and want to pop a microSD card into their phones or portable music players. But how many people do you know who have phones and portable music players with microSD cards? There might be a few, but at least from our perspective, they certainly don't make up a majority—or even a large minority—of the population. I, personally, don't own a single device that takes microSD cards except for my digital camera, and that seems to be the case for most of the Ars staff. Granted, some BlackBerrys take microSD cards, so there are a couple of us who could make use of slotMusic if we wanted to. But why would we want to?
    In a world where we can easily purchase all the music we could ever want online without ever having to set foot inside of a Wal-Mart—and increasingly, purchase it wirelessly right from our mobile devices—exactly which segment of the market SanDisk is going after remains a mystery. Digital music is all about convenience, and requiring someone to walk into a store or wait for something to be shipped in an unfamiliar format is not convenient. There's a reason why CD sales are tanking—and it's not because they're too big to pop right into your BlackBerry.
    Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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    Senior Member Skywave-Rider's Avatar
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    An album at 16 bit, 44.1kHz, uncompressed, could easily fit on a card.
    Possibly 24 bit, or higher sample rate.
    That would be a reason to buy that.
    But for mp3s? Kind of ridiculous.

    All the new portable handheld recorders use SD or CF memory and playback a variety of formats, some to 24 bit/192kHz.

    But that is no big market. It's musicians and media recordists.

    There is no mass market anymore.

    I don't know why, but this reminded me of the turntable which played vinyl with a laser. Is that a figment of my imagination, or did that turntable really exist?

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    Senior Member Ducatista47's Avatar
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    I don't know why, but this reminded me of the turntable which played vinyl with a laser. Is that a figment of my imagination, or did that turntable really exist? Today 05:22 PM
    Did and still does. Just this Saturday a friend told me about this. Everybody should have a friend like Dave. Not only is he the nicest guy in the world. He seems to remember everything he has ever seen and heard at every CES he has attended and everything he has read.
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    Moderator hjames's Avatar
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    Are you kidding? The studios are terrified we'll get high quality "lossless" recordings that we can transfer to other media and not need to keep repurchasing - they have NO interest in selling us such material - 256kbps or less is fine for most folks!

    Quote Originally Posted by Skywave-Rider View Post
    There is no mass market anymore.
    We are dinosaurs!
    (hear my woofer roar!)

    Quote Originally Posted by Skywave-Rider View Post
    An album at 16 bit, 44.1kHz, uncompressed, could easily fit on a card.
    Possibly 24 bit, or higher sample rate.
    That would be a reason to buy that.
    But for mp3s? Kind of ridiculous.
    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
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    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    We are dinosaurs!
    Sucks doesn't it?

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    I think the music labels are dinosaurs, and we are the mammals eating their eggs.
    Out.

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Titanium Dome View Post
    I think the music labels are dinosaurs, and we are the mammals eating their eggs.

    agreed....


    i know quite a few EDM, blues, & rock artists that self distribute or license their work themselves for various online distribution websites...

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    RIP 2021 SEAWOLF97's Avatar
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    who needs MP3's ??? takin my vinyl wif me......

    The vinyl version of the Walkman. Go head to head with youngsters toting their sleek MP3 players. The Audio Technica SoundBurger. Runs on 3 "C" cells. 2 headphones and 1 pair of RCA phono line outputs.

    http://www.zenn.com.sg/Analog%20archiv.htm
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    Senior Member rdgrimes's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97 View Post
    who needs MP3's ??? takin my vinyl wif me......

    The vinyl version of the Walkman. Go head to head with youngsters toting their sleek MP3 players. The Audio Technica SoundBurger. Runs on 3 "C" cells. 2 headphones and 1 pair of RCA phono line outputs.
    Does that come with a belt clip?

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    Quote Originally Posted by rdgrimes View Post
    Does that come with a belt clip?
    No, but it comes with an attached truss.


    (I just looked for an image to attach and made myself sick. )
    Out.

  11. #11
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robh3606 View Post
    Sucks doesn't it?

    Rob
    This DINOSAUR plays MP3 and WAV files out of his computer, using Serato as the player program, AND MY system is a recipe of vintage and NEW technology, for that DINO Tyranosaurus roar, and Pre Colombian Wooly Mammoth feel as the bass approximates what a few of the prehistoric JUMBOS walking down your block would have felt like.

    And my Technics CD Turntables already have something called SD Card slots, for SD cards, that are quite small, I'll tell you this much I finally found digital source that I truly enjoy, YES ENJOY, my files, downloaded MP3, and WAV and imported AAC, AIFF, and WAV, really sound quite good, BETTER than CD any day of the week.

    I was GLUED to my COMPUTERS this summer, downloading, spinning, and ROCKIN THE HOUSE, I have OVER 12,000 titles in my libraries, and still need a bigger , FASTER computer and tons more HD for storage space, I already have 2 500GB external storage drives, LaCie was affordable and does the job, but now my NEW Macbook Pro 17in has a 200GB HD@7200RPM, and I need more still!

    BUT, it DOES sound like something, and this OLD Brontosaurus is sort digitized these days.

    Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?


    scottyj

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