If you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you definitely can't teach students to buy music they've been downloading for free.
A recent report from the Recording Association of America (RIAA) named UT one of the top five universities illegally downloading and sharing music. According to RIAA some students are being singled out for sharing just one mp3 file, something most believe to be harmless.
Other top pirates are Ohio, Purdue, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of South Carolina.
For the past year, students at UT have had the option to download music from a free service provided by CTRAX, owned by the company CDIGIX. CTRAX services more than 75 universities and one million students across the U.S. This service however, has been terminated.
As of Feb 28 2007, CTRAX will no longer offer its services to UT students. Apparently, the Student Affairs Office and the Office of Information Technology are pursuing a new music downloading service for students.
An option the UT recommends is the use of Ruckus, which is providing students with a free account, as long as they have an edu web address. Ruckus offers access to a library of more than two million songs with new music weekly.
A potential problem and area where these sort of services cannot compete is the iPod phenomenon. With most students walking to class, studying and working out with the popular white iPod cords hanging like an appendage from their ears, it seems unlikely they will switch from iTunes, which provides free access to music, once you have your iPod, to a third party provider.
From UTunes students can follow links to the Ruckus homepage, which plans to inspire them to begin purchasing music through cool graphics and offers of free access.
In an effort to stop this snowballing illegal downloading phenomenon "the University strongly recommends that you use a legal download service for music," as quoted from the UTunes homepage.
Great effort.
These efforts seem to be in vain in a land where students are encouraged to think independently and be thrifty. Honing in on college campuses to stop illegal downloading is like going to NASA to stop space travel. Students of this generation are technologically advanced, on limited budgets, and trained to get the most for minimal time and money. That leaves companies like CTRAX and eventually Ruckus, out of commission.
A better plan would be to focus on high school students more than college students. If companies like CTRAX would offer their services to the three largest high schools in each major city, once those students came to college, they would be accustom to this sort of downloading. They would come into college expecting a similar service to be offered.
Another option would be to have representatives from companies such as Mac, Sony, or CTRAX come to high schools and have presentations explaining the effects of illegal downloading. For those not in the industry, 99 cents for a song doesn't seem to make a dent in a multi-million dollar industry.
Access to a new legal downloading company each year won't accomplish anything in the fight against these music pirates. Stepping-outside and starting fresh is the only way to make progress on this issue.
Comments
! commented, on March 26, 2007 at 12:45 p.m.:
Being able to download music for free has exposed me to hundreds of new bands that I would have never have had access to otherwise. In turn, I seek out those bands in concert (my upcoming trip to Nashville for 'TV on the Radio' being a prime example.) These bands, in turn, thrive.
Musicians (and television programming, if we want to apply this situation to You Tube's current legal woes) that provide their music for free online draw my loyalty, while bands who complains draw my ire. Bands make their revenue from touring, music companies profit from CD sales. And companies can sue and slow the process all they want to, but eventually emerging technologies will replace the old system and the industry will have to evolve to stay in the picture. Sueing massive amounts of 19 year olds for absurd sums of money only reinforces my view that they are getting desperate. And, because of this, I, for one, hope they fail to adapt and collapse in on themselves - leading to an opening of the music market and a widening of the types of bands who gain exposure - freeing our airways from the moguls who have had a chokehold on the industry for way too long.