The “new” has officially worn off of MP3 music tracks and albums. What was once a marvel of modern technology is now as ubiquitous and commonplace (read: boring) as the humble cell phone.
Of course, music CDs haven’t been relevant for years, and at this point are starting to look like those stacks of cassette tapes your dad has in a cardboard box in the attic. But with MP3s now passé, and CDs having reached their sell-by date a good 5 years ago, what new technology will jump in to take their place?
It appears that the flash drive is the trendiest music medium for 2008. With the prices of flash memory drives coming down on a near weekly basis, the technology has finally become inexpensive enough to serve as a medium for music albums.
Music acts such as Mars Volta, Matchbox Twenty and Jennifer López have all released versions of their current albums in flash drive format, and a number of high-profile artists are scheduled for flash-album releases this spring.
The flash drive versions of digital albums make sense in many ways. To begin with, they are tiny, and not nearly as cumbersome as CDs to store. Flash drives can also be fashioned into cool bracelets or necklaces so you can basically “wear your favorite band around your neck.”
At a retail price of about $30, the flash drive album looks like an idea whose time has come. The devices serve a double duty; besides containing the album’s digital music files, they can also be used as portable storage devices, much like an iPod.
And besides, consumers have been craving some physical object to represent their favorite artists and albums. Back in your dad’s day, they had these cool vinyl records, with unique art work and liner sleeves. Of course, after that came the cassette tapes, which weren’t nearly as cool, but still contained foldout liner notes and art work. Then came the CD — awkward and unattractive, but at least they included mini booklets containing artwork, lyrics and other information.
But ever since the digital music revolution, music fans have been left empty-handed when purchasing their favorite albums. Sure, the music may be great; but real fans want something physical, something tangible which represents the music and the artist.
That’s why some experts are predicting big things for the USB flash drive album. It is small and inexpensive, and can be fashioned into a variety of shapes, necklaces, bracelets, even ear rings. The MP3 is dead: Long live the flash drive!
Related Business Directory Categories:
