2008 September 22

Sandisk has announced a new initiative called Slot Music. It’s music purchased on an SD card. It’s going to be available in Walmart and Bestbuy; you buy a 1G MicroSD card, and simply plug it into your phone or PC, and play the music.

The initiative is being roundly panned by the likes of Om Malik, and to a lesser degree Mike Arrington. We discussed it. It’s not obvious that Sandisk is jumping onto the deck of the Titanic called the music distribution industry. In fact, it might make sense for some markets and geographies. As a substitute for CDs, however, Slot Music is an unlikely story.

We also discuss a new study by Universal McCann which says that consumers now trust social networks and strangers more than brands. The survey covered 17,000 internet users from 29 countries.

The study describes a “new influencer landscape” which is characterized by three significant trends: the rise in social media, the importance of digital friends, and the proliferation of influencer channels. The study also mentions the impact of this phenomenon: an influence economy, the democratization of influence, and the new“super influencer.”

Any doubts about social networks and marketing? You won’t have them any more after reading this document.

On this morning’s Calliflower Conference Call: Andy Abramson, Dan York, James Body, Jim Courtney, Michael Graves, Nick Desbarats, Phil Wolff, Sergio Meinardi, Bill Volk, and Tom Orr.