 The new album is the longest since 1972's Exile On Main Street |
The Rolling Stones are making their new album available on a flash card format, a medium used by Robbie Williams for the first time last year. Virgin Records is releasing The Bigger Bang on the memory card, which is said to give flexibility, but with added security to prevent copying.
Buyers can also purchase extra Stones tracks for the card, which works with mobile phones and hand-held computers.
Williams' Greatest Hits album was the first major release sold this way.
Content locked
The encrypted card will be available in November at select US stores for $39.95 (�22.06), manufacturer SanDisk and the label said in a statement.
By comparison, the Stones' latest album A Bigger Bang will cost about $14 (�8) in the US on CD.
The card comes with copy-protection technology to stop content ending up on internet file-swapping sites or from being distributed without permission.
SanDisk spokesman Ken Castle said while the card can be taken out and transferred to other different devices such as mobiles and electronic organisers, the content stays locked in the card.
Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman broke new ground when he released an album using memory cards in 1999. These were inserted inside their own MP3 player.
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