Remember the SlotMusic Player? Similar idea and concept, SanDisk announces the slotRadio. This whole idea of very easy to use / ready to go digital music is what the “slot” genre players are all about. The slotRadio is $100 and comes with 1,000 Billboard Chart songs hand selected separated into various genres. The user will simply select the type of music on the player’s 1.5” OLED screen.

The catch is you will not be able to move the songs off the player, so it’s not like getting 1,000 songs at 10 cents each, though these cards will work in other mSD card players like the Sansa Fuze. Additional cards can be purchased for around $40 each with 1000 songs of a specific genre.

I’m still quite bearish on this new type of music format on a memory card. Possibly because I have yet to meet someone that would fall into this purchasing demographic. Or it could be that I’m working on no sleep for the last two days. I will opine further after I have had a chance to check it out first hand tomorrow. Press release after the jump.

SanDisk as the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards is of course always out to sell more cards. This summer they have been running a campaign called "wake up your phone" to get people to invest in memory cards for their cellphones and now they're at it again with a new idea involving microSD cards and music distribution.

The "new" physical music media is dubbed SlotMusic and is basically just MicroSD cards with MP3 files on them. Sony BMG, Universal, Warner and EMI are in on this deal and it's an accomplishment in itself to get music companies to offer such content as MP3 files and not some DRM'ed atrocity. The idea is that people can buy a SlotMusic card, slide it into a player with a microSD slot and listen to the music without any more tinkering.

While this might seem like an inferior method of getting music for some people, it does address two aspects of MP3 players that a lot of people have issues with; having a physical copy, and ease of use. A lot of people, especially the older generation, don't understand how to download music and get it onto their player. With this system they could buy their music like CDs and listen that way. Nothing is simpler than having a card which you put into a slot and it's ready to play. Then you have the music collectors who like to have a physical copy of their music. Granted, MP3 files won't satisfy everyone, but it does allow people to have a cover to look at (if they are going to include such a thing), a booklet and maybe the cards could even include extras like music videos and FLAC files. It's certainly easier having a memory card that you can plug into a computer and transfer music off of than having to rip the music from a CD. The pricing isn't official but is expected to be around $7-$10, which isn't bad at all.

[CNET via ABi Forums | Press Release]