One of the leading manufacturers of mp3 players SanDisk recently announced that the company will promote DRM-free music from more than 50 new and emerging artists on a microSD card. It is a U.S.-based program and is the first of its kind to use microSD cards. It helps launch the new 8GB (gigabyte) Sansa Fuze MP3 player. The “Sansa Sessions” microSD card comprises of a collection of rock, pop, and hip hop songs, music videos, and photos from more than 30 labels. It includes artists like All Time Low, Ladytron, Magnet, Nada Surf, Of Montreal and The Coup.
It is an innovative medium for music distribution and great exposure for artists, said Matt Lunsford, the co-president of Polyvinyl Record Co. He also added saying that such a promotion benefits everybody who is involved, aligning the interests of the musician, label and consumer. The Sansa Sessions music card gives users a simple way to enjoy, manage, and discover new music. The company is of view that artists usually want to give their fans an easy and legal way to experience and share their music, while labels are looking for a form of physical distribution with more usability than the CD. This session promotion is a great opportunity for them to explore this new format and gives both artists and labels a glimpse of the potential for music distribution in this medium.