slotMusic - Does the world need another music format?

SanDisk has partnered with some of the major music labels in the industry to announce its new slotMusic music media. SanDisk did their groundwork and signed up some major music companies prior to the launch. The major music labels backing the new media include EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. So, what exactly is slotMusic and why does the world need another media for digital delivery method for music?

What is slotMusic?
Essentially it is a microSD card that comes with pre-loaded MP3 songs.

Why do I want want to get a slotMusic microSD card?
Well, that's the million dollar question. Marketers will throw some nifty features at you that slotMusic provides:

• DRM-free so that the music can be played back on any device
• No need to have an Internet connection available to listen to the music
• Can be copied to/from any PC (including Mac and Linux computers) with an included USB sleeve
• Compatible with any devices (most notably cell phones) that has a microSD slot
• Playback rate of up to 320kbps

What are the drawbacks?
A lot of the attractiveness of this new media format will depend on your personal listening preferences. Here is my take on the negatives of slotMusic:

• microSD slots are not extremely common on portable devices, so your cell phone may not be able compatible
• MP3s are available to download online in an already oversatured market, so there's no need to physically buy a microSD card to listen to your favorite music on the go
• microSD cards are so small (about the size of a fingernail) that they are likely to get lost if you use multiple cards
• No information yet on price of the microSD cards or on the list of artists that will be available

Dependent upon the price and the list of artists that are available, slotMusic may gain some momenum before the holiday season approaches. But there are a lot of consumers who are already firmed entrenched in downloading music online (myself included) that will need a good amount of convincing before deciding to spend money on a mini-sized microSD card filled with music.