SanDisk unveiled today the initial lineup of over 40 artists who will make their slotMusic debuts before Christmas. They range from ABBA to Young Jeezy and include young rock bands (Metro Area), established rockers (Nickelback), consistent catalog artists (Jimmy Buffet, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd), new R&B (Robin Thicke, Rihanna), some legends (Elvis, Jimi Hendrix) and one artist that garnered mainstream attention from a Target commercial (MIA). Each card comes with a small USB adapter to allow for interoperability with any computer. Each card will contain an album, which is kind of a letdown. Given the capacity of the memory cards, there is potential for career-spanning collections that include music and other media items.

In addition, SanDisk announced the Sansa slotMusic player, a plug-and-play digital music player that will retail for $19.95. The slotMusic player was created to be the easiest way to listen to the music on the slotMusic memory cards. The artist-branded and include the artist's memory card and will retail for $34.95. The player's dimensions are 2.75” x 1.4375” x 1.4375”. It will accept any microSD card and will play MP3 and unprotected WMA files.

Accessories will include a "Sansa card wallet" and additional artist-branded shells for customization.

In interviews, SanDisk is emphasizing the use of microSD cards with mobile phones. The company sees the slotMusic card as a convenient way to listen to music on devices that accept the memory card. No downloading or synchronization is needed. SanDisk has done all the work for you. Are there a lot of people who can't be bothered to create their own playlists, download or rip their own files and put them on their device? Probably. Some of them are the people who love satellite radio -- let somebody else pick the songs, they just want to listen.

Reaction has been better than I anticipated (I expected jeers and boos from every corner of the Internet). Fairly positive analysis can be found at Digital Noise, The Tech Chronicles and Obsessable. Negative sentiment is found at Engadget, Gizmodo and Gearlog (which had a hands-on experience with the player and cards).