SlotMusic To Arrive In Stores This Week, Land In Clearance Bins Six Months From Now

noah | October 15, 2008 10:30 am

The major labels’ latest attempt to jumpstart the physical-media market, the microSD card-with-album format known as SlotMusic, will start trickling into Best Buy and Wal-Mart outlets this week. The cards will retail for… $14.99. For a one-gigabyte memory card and an album, and the possibility of liner notes or cover art or that old standby of uselessness, cell phone wallpaper also being included. Sure, $14.99 is lower than the price of some one-gig microSD cards, but at a time when Americans are cutting back on spending, you’d think that people would be more likely to try a new format of entertainment–even with music files that are free of DRM–if they thought they were getting a deal of some sort. Especially since the cards are teeny tiny, and the whole “you can sync it with your portable music player right away” chatter doesn’t hold water with iPods and iPhones, which don’t have microSD slots. Oh, music industry, you never fail to misunderstand how real people who don’t get promo copies of every CD under the sun actually, you know, consume your product. Anyway, if you want to be the first on your block–or, hell, in your zip code–to try this new format out, the full list of “the 40 top artists” involved in this boondoggle after the jump.

* 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

Maybe I’ll buy one, just to show my solidarity with music business innovation… even though I won’t be able to sync its contents with my iPhone until i get home.

What Is SlotMusic? [Official site]

(Also, can no one spell Jimmy Buffett‘s name right? Dude is a billionaire, yet he gets absolutely no respect in the fact-checking department. As someone who frequently sees people drop the “t” from her last name, I sympathize.)