JAYPLAY
The University Daily Kansan > Jayplay > April 6, 2000
entertainment news
BURNING your own
ENTERTAIN
MP3s give students access to recordable, free music
By BriAnne Hess Photos by Tara Kraus
ideo killed the radio star --could MP3s kill the music biz?
Not likely, say some users of the wildly popular digital music format. In fact, MP3s are proliferating on university campuses nationwide.
Jon Breeding, Springfield, Mo., freshman, said he downloaded MP3s on a daily basis and stored the songs on the hard drive of his computer. He said he listened to the music stored on his computer constantly. Breeding's MP3 use was not unusual.
"For our hall and most scholarships halls, it's really prevalent," said Breeding, a Stephenson resident. "Virtually everyone I know is into MP3s."
Breeding said MP3s expanded his music selection.
"Any time you hear about any music you can go explore and find it," Breeding said. "It's a lot more eclectic, and it's easier to find imports or music hard to find in stores."
He said he still bought compact discs in spite of free access to online music and software that let him record music to blank CDs.
"It's hard to find a full CD online, and oftentimes it's not worth it," Breeding said. "A lot of times I feel obligated to buy the CD if I really like an artist."
Obtaining free music didn't make Breeding think twice about copyright infringement or shortchanging the record labels, either.
"So what if the record labels lose a little money? They're already charging us $15 for CDs." Breeding said.
Justin Ward, Belle Plaine freshman, said he thought a lot of MP3 use was relegated to CDs that only had one or two good songs on them.
"It's an issue the record labels are fighting right now," Ward said. "My response to them would be to put out a higher quality of product."
Ward said he also used MP3s to listen to independent groups that wouldn't get exposure if it weren't for the downloadable medium. He uses a popular Web site, www.napster.com, that allows him to search for and download certain files. That, he said, could make him buy more CDs because it has him listening to more music.
"If there's a good CD, I'd rather go out and buy it than download it and burn it," Ward said.
The University of Kansas has taken a different stance on the possible impact of MP3s.
Wes Hubert, associate director of Academic Computing Services, said the office kept an eye on MP3 use even though there was not a policy in the student handbook that singled out the files or use of Napster.
Hubert said policies on use of the University's network to download MP3 files mirrored the agreement students must make to receive a KU e-mail account. That agreement technically reserves those addresses for academic use only.
Hubert said that the use of Napster would require University action if students stored MP3 files on University servers because it would cause that person to exceed his or her 5-megabyte capacity. The students, however, would receive a notice from the University before their access to the system was blocked.
Other universities, including the University of Texas, Boston University and Northwestern University, have put up firewalls limiting access to Napster, claiming the use clogs computer systems and inhibits legitimate academic use.
The Recording Industry Association of
"We're required to follow up on complaints," Warner said. "Several over the last year have been resolved by talking to the student and by minor disciplinary measures."
Warner would not explain the disciplinary measures because she said it would violate the students' privacy rights.
America is suing Napster and MP3.com for copyright infringement. The RIAA also has filed several complaints with the University for MP3 use during the past year, said Beth Warner, assistant to the vice chancellor for information services. Warner said the University was obligated to respond to all complaints made by RIAA because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Warner also said they were not monitoring Internet traffic specifically for MP3 use and were not planning to because monitoring would put more traffic on the system.
"There is anecdotal indication that MP3s are putting additional load on the campus networks, and it seems to be originating from residence halls," Warner said.
She said that at this point, the University would not deny access to Napster because the files on the site were not illegal.
"There is potentially legitimate academic use for those files," Warner said. "We would hate to do a complete stop on all MP3 traffic."
As an aspiring electronic musician, Adam Kruckenberg, Hutchinson freshman, has uploaded 25 of his original songs to the MP3.com Web site. Registering as an artist opened opportunities Kruckenberg said he might not have had—and the service is free.
He said that his band, Ninja Breakbeat Posse, had received radio play on a
European syndicated radio show and that he had just been e-mailed by a recording company that wanted him to go on a five-day mini-tour in California. Kruckenberg said he can keep track of the number of times each song has been downloaded.
He also said the band had made $20 since its music had been uploaded in early November.
"It's not very lucrative, but it's more reassuring because if you get 30 people listening to you a day, that sounds good," he said.
Kruckenberg said that since he signed on to MP3.com as an artist, he retained all the rights to his music and had a say in what songs went online.
"The site is very friendly to artists," Kruckenberg said. "I have a lot of freedom on intellectual property rights. I can alter the deal at any point."
PLAY inside
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