The iPod officially hits 25 this year, and weirdly enough, the old idea behind it does not feel outdated anymore.
According to The Verge, interest in dedicated music players is picking up again at a time when a lot of people are getting tired of doing everything on their phones. Between rising subscription prices, algorithm-heavy apps, and nonstop notifications, a gadget that just plays music is starting to look pretty shiok again.
There are some real signs this is more than nostalgia. Google searches for “MP3 Player” had been basically flat for five years, but have tripled since last fall. A Reddit community focused on digital audio players is reportedly pulling in around 90,000 visitors a week. Even The New York Times recently highlighted how iPods have become trendy with younger users.
That comeback energy is part of what pushed musician and startup founder Tom Kell to build a new device called Sleevenote. Apple killed off the last iPod in 2022, and while there are already plenty of replacement-style players in the market, Kell argues a lot of them miss the point. His criticism is that many feel like stripped-down Android phones instead of something designed around music first.
Sleevenote wants albums, not endless scrolling
Sleevenote has apparently been in the works for nearly two years. Instead of centering the experience around big libraries, artist lists, and playlists, the device is built around album art on a square 4-inch screen.
The whole concept is very album-first. You are meant to pick a record, sit with it, flip through the liner visuals, then move on to the next one. No playlist rabbit holes, no recommendation engine, no infinite shuffle. Kell described it as something between vinyl and an iPod, which honestly makes sense.
The player is meant to work with DRM-free music bought from stores like Bandcamp, Beatport, and Amazon Music. Tracks are transferred wirelessly, and the company is also building its own licensed album art database to match those files.
That matters because Sleevenote is not trying to become another streaming gadget. The team says it considered Spotify support, but decided against it. The device is being positioned for music people actually own, not just rent through monthly subscriptions.
Why this matters in Malaysia and SEA
For readers in Malaysia and across SEA, this trend is interesting for two reasons.
First, subscription fatigue is very real. A lot of us are already juggling Spotify, Netflix, YouTube Premium, game passes, and who-knows-what else. A dedicated player built around purchased music taps into that feeling of wanting fewer monthly commitments and more control over what you keep.
Second, this hits a niche that still exists here: collectors, audiophile kaki, indie music fans, and people who buy from Bandcamp because they actually want to support artists directly. If you are the type who values full albums instead of random shuffle mode, this kind of product has more appeal than it might have looked on paper a few years ago.
There is also the simple phone-burnout factor. A device that does one thing well can feel way more refreshing than opening your phone to play one album and getting dragged into messages, TikTok, and five other distractions.
Still a risky play
Of course, this is still early-stage stuff. Sleevenote has only run a small preorder campaign so far, and the company is currently manufacturing 100 “day one” units in China. A limited number of devices are expected to go on sale in June, with the plan being to refine both hardware and software alongside early adopters before expanding.
That is a big ask in consumer electronics, especially when supply chains can still get messy even for major brands. But the startup clearly believes there is room for a more intentional kind of music device, especially when Bandcamp alone sells 15 million digital albums a year and says it has paid artists more than $1.7 billion to date.
So no, this does not mean the iPod is making a direct comeback. But it does suggest the market is ready to reconsider an old idea: maybe a gadget does not need to do everything. Maybe it just needs to do one thing really well.
Source: The Verge