The US division of EMI's Virgin Records has announced it will release the Rolling Stones' latest album 'A Bigger Bang' on a new encrypted flash memory card that will also allow users to preview and buy locked tracks from four of the band's previous albums.
The card, dubbed Gruvi, is manufactured by California based SanDisk, and will be available in select US stores for $40 from November. As well as being able to listen to tracks from the new album via a PC or compatible portable device, fans will also be able to preview other older Stones tracks and, if they like them, pay to have permanent access to them. How much they will have to pay has not been confirmed.
The fact the memory card release comes two months after the original release of the album suggests this is very much a pilot project - even if fans were willing to shell out $40 for the stick, most of them will already own the new album - meaning the target for this release is probably the early adopters of new technology.
However SanDisk spokesman Ken Castle reckons that the $40 price tag won't make the flash card unviable, pointing out that the makes the transfer of music to other devices like MP3 players and mobile phones easier (albeit only if said devices are compatible). Not convinced myself, but time will tell I guess.