May 14,
2007
University offers new music service
A partnership with the online media service Ruckus
will give students, faculty, and staff a new service to get legal downloads
from a library of 2.5 million-plus songs.
“The University has been a pioneer in legal
music services for students and we pay close attention to that
marketplace,” says Provost Charles Phelps, who has been a leader
nationally on issues that support legal file-sharing. “The breadth of
the offerings by Ruckus and the rapidly growing list of other colleges and
universities using the service got our attention.”
The University had been providing Napster and Ctrax
free to students for music and movies, but some of those services are no
longer offered. The Ruckus contract took effect May 31.
The music service is free for all matriculating
undergraduates and graduate students throughout the University and the
Medical Center. There is a fee of $8.99 per month for faculty, staff, and
alumni. Ruckus-to-Go, an extension of the music service that allows people
to transfer songs to a compatible MP3 player, is an additional $20 per
semester—for anyone, including students. Video is an additional $15
per semester—also for anyone, including students.
In February 2004, Rochester was the first private
university in the nation to sign a digital music agreement, giving students
free access to Napster’s popular Premium music service and legitimate
digital music. About one-third of undergraduates living in dormitories have
signed up for Napster each year.
“Unauthorized downloading on college campuses
continues to be a major problem, not only for the copyright holders but
also for managing our own campus networks,” says Phelps. “We
believe that providing legal music services helps solve these problems and
contributes to our educational discussions about the differences between
legal and illegal downloading.”
Ruckus places a dedicated computer on campus for the
local traffic. Students can decide to purchase songs or buy a higher-level
of service for an additional charge. Even during the summer, students can
download from home, which wasn’t possible with the Napster service.
Some other Ruckus features include downloading albums
in less than a minute, new music each week, playlists and album reviews,
and exclusive artist and music label spotlights, interviews, and photos.
All songs are certified as 100 percent legal, virus-free, and spyware-free.
Sharon Dickman is the University spokeswoman.
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