I’ve written about USB albums many times before and even a microSD music disk from Ricky Martin, but I thought he was going out on a limb.  Apparently not.

SanDisk just announced a sponsorship in association with the Billboard Latin Music Conference and Awards from April 6-10 in Hollywood, Florida.  I guess the sponsorship is a reflection on SanDisk’s marketing campaign to “Wake Up Your Phone” by providing pre-loaded entertainment on microSD cards.  “Wake Up Your Phone” is focused on informing mobile phone users how they can capture their experiences and take their music with them by expanding the storage capacity of their mobile phones - or between the lines - “hey consumers, don’t forget to stuff your memory slot with a microSD card for $30.”

The Billboard Latin Music Conference will also offer attendees the ability to download additional multimedia entertainment to the microSD cards, such as photos and video, in the attempt to show there is more to do that just microSD music cards.

“This year’s Billboard Latin Music Conference is all about exploring the new way of doing business, so it is extremely fitting that SanDisk Corporation is an in association sponsor of the event,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s Executive Director of Content & Programming for Latin Music & Entertainment. “From ringtones to video, understanding and utilizing mobile technology is crucial for any artist or company that wants to succeed in the Latin music business, and we’re thrilled that SanDisk will be giving our attendees the opportunity to experience the true power of mobile entertainment through its microSD cards.”

To increase awareness for how microSD cards can be used SanDisk launched this very entertertaining website WakeUpYourPhone.com.

Update: Nexcopy reports the USB duplicator will duplicate 30MBs of data to all 20 flash drives in about 40 seconds. The USB duplicator will copy 250MBs of data in about 3.5 minutes. So the USB duplicator has good performance on data copy speeds.

Nexcopy announced earlier this week their USB200PC USB Duplicator is available for purchase. This unit appears to be the easiest and most economical way to load content to USB flash memory. The USB duplicator is a PC based system which copies fro m a master location to 20 slave ports. I would think this an excellent product for those looking to produce interactive product information, sales presentations or even USB music albums on flash memory.

Granted this could all be done on CD or DVD, but the idea I like about USB flash, is it being extremely portable, more durable than optical media (no scratching or damage from direct sun), and can be reused again and again as a big, fat floppy drive by the user.

The USB duplicator concept seems to be a great method to manage an arsenal of flash memory, whether it be content loading to a new set of flash drives for a trade show, or updating a rotation of information to a group of USB drives (say for sales force or medical applications).

The Nexcopy USB200PC USB duplicator has some interesting features. The software will not only duplicate data, but an option to duplicate only new and newer data. Meaning, if you don’t want to over-write current data on the device, selecting the Copy New and Newer means it will only add data to the existing drive. This function also updates an old file with the newer version. This feature in itself makes USB drive flash management extremely easy and convenient.

The Nexcopy USB duplicator is priced at $1,299 for a 20 target USB copier so the solution wont kill your budget (like some $10,000+ systems I’ve seen).

Nexcopy USB Duplicator product page.

Mars Volta has joined the ranks of artists who’ve introduced music via USB Albums.  Their latest album, The Bedlam in Goliath is was available on a 1GB drive but is now sold out due to popular demand.  The drive included album artwork and music video Wax Simulacra and what’s interesting about this Mars Volta offering - after Feb 29th connecting the USB music album to your computer allows unique content download from the Mars Volta website.  Including B-side material, webisodes and limited edition wallpaper.

I’ve mentioned before about the death of the CD because of the recent trend in USB music albums and with dropping flash memory prices I believe this music trend will continue and grow in strength, numbers and popularity.

Here is the Mars Volta web page and the dedicated order page (sold out now) for the USB music album ($29).

EMI and Ringo Starr haven’t teamed up since 1974 (Goodnight Vienna) and oh have times changed. The latest release, Liverpool 8, which is a reflection of Ringo Starr’s personality:

Ringo has said that as time goes on there is more and more of his personality in his music, and the songs on Liverpool 8 feel personal. His candor, wit and soul are evident in the lyrics and the heartbeat of every song.

The Liverpool 8 USB album is more than just the 12 tracks - included is bonus material any die-hard fan would appreciate. If you can get your hands on one, you will find a personal message as an intro, obviously not persoanlized to YOU, interview commentary and (more…)

USB music albums have been out for some time, but having J. Lo introduce her new album “Brave” this way will definitely draw attention to this channel of distribution.

Gresso, a high-end technology company, ink’d a deal with J. Lo and Sony BMG Music Entertainment that allows Lopez’s album to be released on their Adam&Eve drive.

At $70 it’ll be one of the most expensive albums this year, but lets not forget (more…)

White Stripe have announced the full release of Icky Thump will become available on a USB music album.

The album size is 512MBs and will be released in two editions with total circulation of 6,666 units. Half of the distribution will be creepy looking Meg and the other half creepy Jack.

You can find out more and order on-line directly from the White Stripes website. (more…)

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Bob Marley Exodus album a re-release is coming out as a USB Music Album.

The USB album will be available May 28th to a limited 4,000 with exclusive video footage of Bob Marley and the Wailers playing at London’s Rainbow Theater back in June of 1977.

2,000 copies will also be released in the MicroSD card format along with a CD version. The CD version will have the exact look and feel as the original LP which was released in 1977. (more…)