Curious to know if anyone would ever buy a USB drive loaded with music?

++Pluses++
Most cars have a USB drive, and many new cars don't have a CD player, so there's some appeal there.
Easy USB drive dump into your iTunes so that's good.
You can put lots of other media on them- videos, liner notes, viruses.

--Negatives--
More expensive than CDs and download cards.
Who the F wants to buy music on a USB drive? Really??

And, few cars have vinyl players so that's not an option.

Disc makers has a USB drive about the size of a business card, with a half plug, so it's completely minimal.
Thoughts? Barf bag anyone?

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Last edited: Apr 16, 2018 22:07:30

It's mostly generational. Some folks can't relate to a CD and some folks can't relate to a memory stick. It's a lot easier to DIY the memory stick bit. It's a nice compromise for folks who want a THING to hold on to rather than download and much more immediate at a gig. It may also help if you tie the stick in with some other bit of merch or trinket. It's also a lot easier to include additional information or do different versions on the memory stick. OR if you can get a fair amount of mem sticks of limited capacity on the cheap, you can put one or two songs (along with fan seduction info)and then give them away at gigs (drawings etc). I relate more to CDs myself but I'm a crusty old guy. Of course, if you suddenly had a Lamar sized hit, none of the above works very well. ;-)My two cents.

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Last edited: Apr 16, 2018 23:59:57

As much as I love vinyl, I still play cds most.
I'm not into download or USB at all.

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SanchoPansen wrote:

dragonsurfer wrote:

Thing about some USB devices is they are only good for limited time use, downloads, transfers, are numbered and they also need to be used regularly to not become unusable.

Convenience is the plus but longevity is not.

This information is not correct.
A USB stick lasts 10-30 years and even longer if not in use. CDs generally don't last this long.
There's also no limit on how often you can up-/download files. The device only needs to be formatted from time to time.
Anyway, IMO the era of CDs is over. Selling USB drives is the way to go. They are very cheap and you can have your logo printed on them. Have a video? Throw it on there, too. Make special drives containing ALL album and additional data (photos, videos, etc.).
And if people want to put different data on them...no problem. They can use it for whatever they want. But there's still your logo on it which reminds them of your band.

Actually that is about the newer ones having a limited lifespan. I was surprised myself to read that and there are differing opinions on this. The older ones being the safer longer lasting ones. I think this also applies to solid state drives as well.

And have you ever had a corrupted flash drive happen to you?

I have and it's not pleasant. Makes for important storage files to be on shaky ground in a flash drive. Satellite memory but not steel vault backup.

For that matter even CDs have a limit depending on how they were made, if they are not bootleg CD's, the coatings oxidize and there goes that twirling dervish of a memory bank.

Some feel that tape and vinyl will last longer but tape as we know starts turning back to petroleum.

There is also the insertion number of times factor that lessens the reliability of a flashdrive.

In the end it's about cycles vs years.

https://www.flashbay.co.uk/blog/life-expectancy-of-a-usb-flash-drive

What we lost with vinyl and Cds is the artwork. But I guess you can include photos of art within the drive files. You just can't hold it.

But like what Sancho said, Cd's are gone for the most part except for storage/backup. I will use a CD released by a known record company for studio reference. But in my studio, it's all flash drive going in and out of the recorder.

Just remember to back up the flash drive files somewhere else.

Last edited: Apr 17, 2018 01:24:39

I don't think anyone has any expectation of using the music on a USB stick for 5 or 10 years. It's just a quick way to get music handed to you to copy to your computer.

As a tech guy I have to say you really shouldn't be using USB sticks in 2018. There are too many known malware attacks where just by inserting the stick in your computer you get owned. Our security guys at work forbid us from using them and tell us to just throw them away.

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Brian wrote:

There are too many known malware attacks where just by inserting the stick in your computer you get owned. Our security guys at work forbid us from using them and tell us to just throw them away.

Reason using them on an old Mac keeps that possibility down as malware wasn't configured for Macs made in 2001.

Also helps to virus check them before opening them.

But yeah they do pass on viruses.

I've been told computers running Win95 are not attacked by virus due to their age. Kind of why bother...

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USB sticks are another thing to clutter up my desk that I don't have storage for. I can safely throw away a download card after I use it. I could do the same for a USB stick but I'd feel weird about it. Doesn't seem worth the cost vs paper.

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How many years you think USB2 is going to be backward-compatible or supported with common devices anyway?

PolloGuitar wrote:

Barf bag anyone?

Yes

The security issues raised above are very true, and would exclude this type of media delivery from mass appeal, always.

From the present's perspective, CD technology is pretty horrible (too). It caught on as a new standard that held on through decades. A mission like that, I don't expect to happen anymore with anything digital. Just slow increments of better quality / better delivery systems, for already established (and oftentimes outdated) protocols.

A future-proof, analog/digital hybrid of some sorts, with physical album covers somehow...

Last edited: Apr 17, 2018 12:17:50

My car stereo has a MicroSD slot in which I have an mp3 loaded card (surf, of course!). It's handy but so damn small and easy to lose. I was loading in a card one day and it slipped out of my fingers and went through a crack in the dash. It's still back there.

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