Leigh Stark over at APC was cynical about the new album on a USB-stick DDA technology we saw last week. Hell, so was I. But Leigh decided to try and check it out anyway, except for the fact that he couldn’t find them anywhere… That’s right, either we were both wrong and the whole “album on a USB stick” concept is proving massively popular beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, or (more likely) nobody cares and the whole thing was more PR than an actual product release. Considering Leigh actually asked in store at some of the biggest music shops (that were supposed to have them) and got funny looks, it’s not looking too promising for the new format. Head on over to APC to read the full account…
It is astounding just how out of touch the music industry appears to be with the average consumer. When they’re not suing customers for copyright infringement, they’re trying to push another physical format down our throats – this time it’s albums on a USB stick.
The tech is known as DDA, and it comes with “online extras” to go with the physical product. Albums are identified by a card attached by a piece of string. On top of that, each stick comes with the proprietary DDA media player you’ll need to activate files from the USB, although the music can be transferred into iTunes easily and comes in both MP3 and WMA formats for your portable music player of choice.They’ll be available through HMV, Sanity and Virgin music stores. More »
