Universal, Warner, and EMI to sell music on flash drives

The major record labels' ongoing fixation with physical media continues on, as Universal, EMI, and Warner have each announced plans to sell music preloaded on flash drives. Universal says the move is "aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be," but that "people still want to own a physical product." Yeah, too bad that physical product is a DAP. Predictably, the $10 flash drives will cost twice as much as normal CD singles but contain additional content -- just like that ridiculous "ringle" concept we just heard about, only with more plastic and manufacturing involved. There's no word on what format the music will be in or what the DRM will be, but it's not like it really matters, since no one is going to buy these anyway. No word on when we'll see this Stateside, but UK teenagers can expect to be patronized by the record labels sometime in the next few months.

[Via Pocket-lint]

[jim @ Oct 18th 2007 11:56AM]

Who goes to the store to buy music? You can buy it online, you can even buy it on your mobile.

[Josh Warner @ Oct 18th 2007 2:17PM]

People who like to have physical copies of their music and the legal means to rip, remix, transcode, and place said music on any device of their choosing. People who like paying approximately the same amount they would have paid online, for full CD quality and about 10 times the information encoded in your average mp3 (CD = 1411 Kb/s; mp3 ~= 128 Kb/s).

People who dislike DRM in all of its forms. People who... if you have not gotten the point yet, you are hopeless.

Buying songs online costs ~ the same as they do on CD, except you get 10% of the data and vendor lock-in. Feel free to go down that road if you like; I will not be joining you.

[jim @ Oct 18th 2007 2:24PM]

You have a point when it comes to quality, but most of us are not audiophiles and can't hear the difference, and a lot of us do not have the quality of stereos that can make a difference.

I just don't like the labels to control the music industries through physical media. My dream is that an artist can submit their songs to Napter, Amazon, iTunes, etc themselves and get the majority of the profit from their work.

As long as the consumer chooses the physical media, the artists will be forced to give in to those who can mass produce the physical media.

I would rather support the artist.

[iRobot @ Oct 18th 2007 3:11PM]

If you can't tell the difference in music quality, then just buy it off iTunes.

@Josh Warner
That depends on WHERE you buy your music from on line. I get my music at a superior quality and pay less then a CD. Remember CD need to be stored somewhere. I have hundreds/thousands of CD/DVD sitting in the close, just take-ing up space. It's pointless now. How many times are you going to look at Album Art, I mean really?

[brad j @ Oct 18th 2007 5:25PM]

The thing is, when you buy a cd from a store, u get a copy that can be ripped/imported to ANY codec and quality you want without suffering major quality loss. That means in the future when codecs get better sounding quality at a lower bit rates one who bought from a store (a physical cd) can go back to that original disc and rerip it to the new codec for their players and keep a very nice sound quality in the song.

If you were to buy a mp3 from amazon, then later (years) theres a new codec out which is way better than mp3, you would not want to convert that file or it would sound like crap because u would be compressing it after its allready been compressed to mp3.. then you have to stick with the old mp3 to have ok quality; which in time will fade from being put in media players for its suckiness of compression in quality later in the years to come compared to what will be new then..

Lets just say its a smarter idea (for the future) to buy something like a "full quality" uncompressed tracks than it is to buy something pre-compressed/ripped. You would have more choices to do what you want with it now and in the future. Which would also make it more compatible and always up to date in the future of things.

[TDG01 @ Oct 18th 2007 6:22PM]

@ Jim...

Actually...the sites with DRM are more controlling than the labels with physical media...

Now give me a site with lossless and no DRM and I'm in...

[pirate23 @ Oct 18th 2007 7:06PM]

@jim: anyone ever heard of mp3sparks [dot] com? solves the drm problem nicely. I miss allofmp3, though :(

I personally wouldn't buy music on a flash drive. One word: why?!
There's not an advantage over a drm-free CD or a gray-area russian site, that I can see...

[paragraph @ Oct 18th 2007 11:57AM]

I acctually like this idea. First off, Flash drives are getting cheaper, and the extra use as a storage device would definitly interest me (assuming i can still do that). FFS i'd definitly be inclined to buy an album on Flash drive if that meant that after i transfered the files to my iPod i could use the device as storage for, lets say, among other things, homework.

The part i don't like is that they expect this to cost twice as much as CD.... no good I say. Most new cds are (roughly) $20, that means for $40 i could buy it on flash drive... same music... or for $10 i could buy it on iTunes... again same music...

seriosuly, if this costs more than $15 it'll fail like... like... whats comprable to this? umm OH! SACD... there we go, it'll fail like SACD.

[NG @ Oct 18th 2007 1:22PM]

Why would you want your house full of flash drives?

For your homework and other files you can use online storage, free to use

[paragraph @ Oct 18th 2007 1:41PM]

@NG

well one, in the event i don't have access to the net i can still save files off of my computer. Also, i own the flash drive, i just rent part of the internet, i have no control over my files at that point, my files are at the whim of someone else, in the event that a company goes belly up, where are my files? lost in the annals of the way back machine thats where.

also: flash drives are hardware, something to hold on to. Call me old fashioned but i like to be able to point to something and say my files are there, right there, that thing has my files on it and I can get to them as long as i have that thing. Sure, compared to the "get it anywhere" nature of the net it's not the most accessable option, but it's damn close.

[Jesse S @ Oct 18th 2007 2:02PM]

Considering you say that iTunes music is the same as CD's, you obviously missed the scope of SACD.

Better masetering = better sounding music.

Idiot.

[culbeda @ Oct 18th 2007 5:51PM]

And the fact that this is a needless waste of resources and a needless source of pollution doesn't have any impact on your support for this asinine plan?

And why would I want a bunch of small flash drives laying around? It's bad enough people keep giving them to me at trade shows just to get some damned product documentation.

[Oliver Chesler @ Oct 18th 2007 11:58AM]

I recently wrote an article titled "What if music should be free?" I am a musician who makes a living off recordings but even I get it already! http://www.wiretotheear.com/2007/10/13/what-if-music-should-be-free/

[Miguel @ Oct 18th 2007 12:05PM]

I'm sorry, I really find it hard to believe that there are executives running multi-billion dollar companies who believe this idea will work.

You know how they always say that the huge profits they make of successful acts go to subsidize the unsuccessful acts? That is a lie. The profits go to stuff their pockets and support stupid dead end ideas like this.

What a sad, sad, stupid, stubborn industry.

[Plague @ Oct 18th 2007 5:00PM]

Miguel-

As I sit in a UNI office as I type this, you have no idea how right you are.

[r3loaded @ Oct 18th 2007 12:06PM]

All I can say is: LOL!
I fall right in the middle of that age demographic they're targeting, but there's no way I'm willing to pay extra to have my music in an inferior audio format (uncompressed CD-quality anyone?) and have the risk that the music might be accidently erased off the memory stick.

The music industry still doesn't get it. Obviously, Radiohead does.

[bollewolle @ Oct 18th 2007 12:06PM]

I for one am not waiting for this, it's just stupind imho. Just think about it, how in Gods name are you going to store these things if you have like 100 of them? Not as easy as storing a CD is it? Won't be easy to find the album you really wanted to listen to today.

[suv4x4 @ Oct 18th 2007 12:07PM]

For the same reason kids buy ringtones, those flash drives WILL appeal. Kids are easily impressed by novelty devices, cool gadgets.

I just hope the industry won't rely on those as a replacement of the CD though. CD had universal appeal, which now has started to suffer due to online stores like iTunes and digital non-CD players.

Those flash devices will appeal to kids, but the money are in their parents. The ringtone model worked since you pay via the phone, so parents unwittingly paid by paying the phone taxes, while here parents will have to actually shell out cash for a flash drive with a single on it.

[bjrcboy @ Oct 18th 2007 12:09PM]

This is blasphemy!

[Todd @ Oct 18th 2007 12:14PM]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

"True greatness is measured by how much freedom you give to others, not by how much you can coerce others to do what you want." - Larry Wall

"Ok, forget the Ringlets, put our stuff on flash drives for 10 bucks each, that'll stop those f*cking idiots from downloading!" - Record executive

[Snitch @ Oct 18th 2007 12:16PM]

what a desperate move LOL el jobso its laughing his ass of right now trust me. This most be a joke, music on flash drives? I dont think so, this must be a sigh of troubles for these companies something dont smell right

[Jeff @ Oct 18th 2007 12:26PM]

So what are they supposed to do, guys? Just not try anything? Sit there and do nothing as their sales go down the toilet? Sheesh.

Yes, the industry has made some hugely bone-headed moves - the biggest of which being the DRM fiasco. They're now slowly waking up to that.

But they're absolutely right in that people want to own physical products. With all you hear about digital downloads, CD sales still make up more than 90% of all music sales. The problem is those sales are dropping - but download sales aren't rising enough to make up for it.

They need to do something. Right now, they're in "throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" mode. That's better than doing nothing.

I'm glad some of you guys are not running my company.

[Snitch @ Oct 18th 2007 12:40PM]

but this is something they created on their own you think they are in bad shape now, in a year they will be 10x worst just wait till Amazon DRM free music start hitting limewire and all other peer to peer sites no body its goin to buy nothing anymore, and who's to blame Universal started this bull with Amazon and them push itunes to follow them or die out, and since universal started it not a single artist has complaint about it, but they will soon as soon as its start herting there pockets

[iRobot @ Oct 18th 2007 1:40PM]

Well, maybe if the Music Industry continues to suing people, that idea might stick on the wall. WTF? What the hell kind of way to do business is that?

All we're saying is make SMART decisions, not decision in a PANIC. Change is coming!! The hand-wrighting is on the wall, stop fighting it and go with it instead. In the long run, they will make MORE money helping to advance technology, instead of holding it back.

- Movies for $1.00 (dollar)
- Songs for $0.25 (quarter)
- Not DRM
- Use any music service you want
- STOP SUING EVERYONE

It may seem irrational at first, but the fact is -- if prices are low, there's NO Point in stealing it any more. People will pay, for the convenience of choice, easy of use, and mostly because this save time on having to convert anything -- it already done for you, at a good quality and only for a buck.

Problem Solved

[Matt @ Oct 18th 2007 12:29PM]

Not really new. I remember some format aimed at kids that used singles on cartridges, although the name escapes me and I'm not sure if it's still being sold.

[crescentdavid @ Oct 18th 2007 12:33PM]

Expecting the RIAA dinosaurs to do anything other than alienate their most rabid target audience is an exercise in futility. Never before have so few mega-corporations controlling so much music been so clueless. They make you WANT to get your music for nothing.

[DBrim @ Oct 18th 2007 12:55PM]

Am I the only one who still buys CDs?



... and vinyls?

[Jagannath A @ Oct 18th 2007 1:14PM]

yes

[TheLoneIguana @ Oct 18th 2007 1:18PM]

I love the thrill of the hunt for used CDs. I just can't get into the digital download scene. For $2-3 at one of the local music stores, I get a CD that may end up having several good songs I've never heard. I won't buy new CDs except in VERY rare cases.

[narco @ Oct 18th 2007 5:05PM]

A complete album is art -- both musically and visually, which is why I will never stop buying vinyl or CDs. Thanks to this new 'digital revolution,' people have collections of singles rather than a true collection of music. I love my iPod to death, but a true music listening experience for me has to include an entire album along with the sleeves, liner notes, lyrics, etc.

Until musicians start coming up with ways to better this experience with all the internet has to offer, I'll stick to the old fashion way.

Fishes,
narco.

[Brassen @ Oct 18th 2007 12:56PM]

I'm too afraid of rootkits to plug these flash drives into my computer...

[Russ D @ Oct 18th 2007 1:13PM]

For some reason this reminded me of those floppy square records that would come in the sunday paper, as part of the mcDonalds advertisement. If your record has the guy saying the entire menu really fast without messing up you would win... Oh yeah, because it was a ridiculous idea.

[iRobot @ Oct 18th 2007 1:14PM]

Yes, but a teenager wouldn't be stupid enough to buy a flash drive with 1 song on it for $10? The reason that kids are buying ringtones by the truck load is the convenience factor.

You have your cell phone in your hand, it's only a couple of bucks, and I can get it NOW, plus, there's no transferring of files. "So I can impresses all my friends with the latest song from 'what's his face', I'm cool!"

[roc ingersol @ Oct 18th 2007 1:19PM]

$10 for a -single- ?
wtf are they smoking?

I still buy CDs. Not because they're 'cool'... but because, until recently, they were the only way to get DRM-free music at a decent bitrate and decent price.

Go go used CD shops.

[joe @ Oct 18th 2007 1:30PM]

When it comes to these big labels I just see some fat old man siting behind his desk smoking 100 dollar bills signing off on any idea that has the word technology in it.

[ilh @ Oct 18th 2007 1:45PM]

Way to put up the prices of flash by using a load of the supply on this.

[Jesse S @ Oct 18th 2007 2:04PM]

But Radiohead sucks.

[Jeff Foster @ Oct 18th 2007 2:28PM]

This would have been a novel idea... what, 8 years ago?

who's in charge of these companies??

[sean @ Oct 18th 2007 2:45PM]

Flash drive sales would work under one proposal someone made YEARS YEARS YEARS ago:

Sell them at concerts.

Imagine leaving a concert you adored and there, at the door, is a vendor selling a flash drive with the concert you just attended.

Bands need to jump all over this. For one, you get individual versions of the music - not studio versions. Second, if you limit the sales at each concert to that concert only, you can make these somewhat collectible. Finally, you can eliminate piss-poor bootlegs by getting a recording directly from the mixing board.

[Ed Donnelly @ Oct 20th 2007 11:54AM]

These guys do this already: www.aderra.net. Bought one at the Big Head Todd Concert at Rd Rocks this summer.

[ANNIE @ Nov 21st 2007 2:48PM]

I actually think the smart way to go would be to bundle this with a tee shirt sale and up the price so that anyone who wants one has to buy tee shirt or vice versa. More money and forced marketing. Tee shirts are already 30 bucks what ever the cost of this for most would be an either or idea unless they were sold together , otherwise what about itunes and physical sales of songs, wouldnt this be in contract to the recording company's non concert sales which everyone is screaming about when it became available by the song versus an entire CD.

just an opinion , but a awesome idea, I think i will check out Aderra as mentioned above. I wonder if there are archives available for this kind of thing in case i couldnt attend a great show i really want to hear??


Mick Jagger would probably do that , he is an absolute genius in his back end marketing deals. The man sells every piece of tee shirts etc.before he even sings the first song at the first show for the entire tour.

A tee shirt at a Stones concert is 60 to 80 bucks as well. Its part of the deal or so i hear.

[decypher44 @ Oct 18th 2007 2:48PM]

So, if your PC/Mac doesn't have a built-in flash card reader, you'll have to buy one. Then, if your car radio doesn't have a card reader, you'll have to burn a CD. These cards are so small, they will be easy to lose.

Also, I think one artist tried this, though I can't remember who it was. Lots of fail.

[Magallanes @ Oct 18th 2007 3:26PM]

Can works if they are used for promotional purpose.

[Anthony @ Oct 18th 2007 3:39PM]

Record labels are trying a little to hard with this one. We all know the iPod crushed c.d. sales, but this device don't even come close to that. When I read about this on Global Grind I laughed. Who is going to buy this? Not me.

[DJ Gee @ Oct 18th 2007 4:42PM]

Hey Anthony, I read about this on Global Grind too. I think its a great idea though. I don't download a lot, I'm a DJ so you know I love diggin in the crates for good vinyl and I love buying CDs. There's nothing like it. This flash drive thing could work...if not, you really can't blame the industry for trying.

[jim @ Oct 18th 2007 7:37PM]

@TDG01

Who do think is responsible for the DRM on the online music stores? But that is besides the point I was trying to make. My point is is that online, bands have a chance to do it mostly themselves and don't need a huge sum of money to mass produce and market their music.

If the music industry continues to be dominated by physical media it will never be cost efficient for small bands to do it themselves. Online music distribution at least makes it possible for bands to make money without cutting out 90% of it to the industry.

[wilsonwave @ Oct 18th 2007 7:32PM]

Dear Universal, EMI, and Warner,

Pleeeeease keep spending all your money on stupid ideas like this so eventually (hopefully) we won't have to put up with them anymore.

Sincerely,
The 21st Century

[Chris Taylor @ Oct 18th 2007 8:28PM]

You people are going to get educated in a seriously bad way pretty soon.

TRUST me when I tell you that you DO NOT WANT any media being supreme EXCEPT FOR CD

CD is our LAST DEFENSE in ownership of our property. The MOMENT they get to "change the medium" they get to "change the rules"

With a CD (a REAL CD) you can rip it to your hearts content store it nearly forever and reconvert to any new media formats as they are developed.

The moment it comes out on "flash" or "mp3/aac" only is when we are screwed because then its THERE RULES or the Highway.

CD is the last front on which WE can excert some sort of control over our music experience.

MP3's are nearly worthless. I will not pay more than a nickel to a 15 cents a pop for an MP3 as thats all its worth to me (thats why I shop at allofmp3.com or mp3sparks.com)

When I get something I like I GO BUY THE CD (the mp3's are not the greatest quality as it is I can rip them to a much higher quality from the CD)

When are people going to learn. Getting rid of the CD means getting rid of the last traces of power we have to determine how we listen to our music with any quality.

Flash music means limited formats and DRM infestations.

[Sirocco @ Oct 18th 2007 8:39PM]

Josh Warner, you state "Buying songs online costs ~ the same as they do on CD". Actually, tracks purchased online have about a 7:1 advantage (for me personally), when you consider that when you buy a CD, you're usually interested in only 1-2 songs and the rest is junk.

[Galley @ Oct 19th 2007 9:15AM]

I buy my CDs for $6.99 with free shipping. Remember kids, CDs are lossless!
http://www.yourmusic.com/