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UC System Chooses Mindawn Download Service
An anonymous reader writes "In hopes of stemming the tide of students freely sharing copyrighted multimedia files over their campus networks, the University of California (UC) system has selected an online music and video service that supports Windows, Mac OS, and Linux to provide downloadable music and video for its approximately 200,000 student population. Unlike iTunes (which only supports Mac OS X and Windows) and Napster (which is Windows-only), Mindawn works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. In addition, instead of providing downloads that are degraded by what is known as "lossy compression," downloads from Mindawn are offered in both Ogg Vorbis and FLAC formats." (Vorbis files are lossy too, though my tin ears can't always tell.)
I ask this question because I have browsed through the Mindawn service. This might be a loss for the university. Before we get into this debate about what music is good/bad, or the usual "Indie Music is the only real music" posts, let's say something about Joe College Student. Your average college student isn't like us. The average college student listens to RIAA artists like Metallica, Britney Spears, etc. None of those artists (nor any newer music) is available on this catalog. Word will get around campus, and as a result, I have a feeling the service will not be used by the masses.
-thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
"....supports Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux."
ummmm, so does it run in Linux?
Seriously though, there is no such thing as a free lunch and all that so I have to wonder what better uses (computer labs, research facilities, etc) are getting short changed to pay for this. I buy my songs legally so I don't like that my tuition and/or school budget getting used to this to prevent us "pirates".
So even though the vast majority of students on UC campuses carry iPods (thanks to Apple's extensive student discounts on them, including giving them away free with purchase of a powerbook), the UC system has selected a download system incompatible with iPod.
Figures.
It's a simple equation. They don't have forced DRM so the RIAA and co won't deal with them.
Riiiight... they are going to stop piracy by providing a paid streaming audio and video service with crap content to a group of people that typically have little money.
Blessed are the 1337, for they shall pwn the earth.
...clearly they asked the folks at the student radio stations what the kids listen to these days. /worked in college radio //has NEVER met a student radio DJ who wasn't a HUGE music snob
So what's the comparison? I've hardly heard of any of the artists in either list and the few I have, well, I don't even need to hear the songs to know they suck.
What does this have to do with higher education again?
Is the Citizenry of California really paying for college kids to download music?
Why not deliver pints of Ben & Jerry's to the dorm rooms too? I mean, it's hot in California - think of the children, won't you?
If they're having problems with bandwidth, give them an allotment per MAC address or other authorization token and charge them for overages. Next.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
"Mindawn will be a valuable partner for campuses instituting online entertainment programs because of its wide range of content by independent artists and its offer to allow UC students to market their own music. This is an important endeavor that we are embarking on, and we are pleased to be working with an established leader on the project."
The ability for students to market their music online easily is something other music services don't offer. This was possibly a significant factor in choosing this company. Its a very University of California type thing to do, and I as a UC student can't say I'm upset about this.
Moderation Totals: Flamebait=2, Troll=1, Redundant=1, Insightful=6, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=12. (not mine)
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A house divided against itself cannot stand.
But seriously, what is the point of an official music source. Did they ever have an official radio station? Or an official music store? Or an official candy bar?
Kids are going to listen to podcasts, and want the song. If they have a dollar, they might buy it off iTunes. Otherwise they will do what has always been done, which is record it off the radio or get a copy from someone else. Nobody has money, and this stuff is expensive.
And the music industry should play a soft touch with the kids. As far back as the 70's and 80's, I can assure you that Deborah Harry and madonna would not the rich chicks they are now if stupid middle school kids were yelled at for copying music. And do you think that the silly college kids bought anything from REM? Not often.
I don't know what the solution is. Everyone deserves to rich and unhappy. Everyone deserves thier cut. But a school contracting with a single service does not seem to lead to everyone getting thier cut. The selected songs will be counted, but everything else will be missed. I only use iTunes, and I only get a 25% hit rate. If the hit rate for a kid is 25% i am sure they will never check the site again. The register claims that zero songs have been bought through the napster deals.
In any case, I am glad the U went with an indie source. It will be good for the kids. I hope that they still have access to iTunes if everyone has an iPod. Although I bet that Apple would have cut a really good deal for each student to have $50 gift card.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
You know this song has become the standard for the vacuous no talent blonde wanna be slutty girl. And it is sad because Nancy Sinatra was not like that. She wasn't incredible talented, but she has some grace and style. And there was a time when the women who sang this song were in fact women and were in fact not so trampy, and did in fact have some ability to sing. And were in fact women and not just bags of flesh to be used.
It is like the Dukes of Hazard. A fun show with fun actors and people who did not take themselves seriously, but were still respectful. Even the preview with that bag of flesh makes me want to sue for destroying the last vestiges of my innocent childhood.
Anyway, since anyone who sings the song after this will be considered a lower life form than jessica simpson, the song should probably be retired. Unless Paris Hilton feels the need to assert herself as the lowest of the low.
Why doesn't the RIAA try the M$ strategy of "catching 'em young?" College kids can't afford the money for buying the overprices CDs. But college is *the time* when you develop a taste for music.
Why doesn't the RIAA give CDs, etc. at a lower price/free to college students and universities and charge the salaried class which can afford them?
Nandz.
The university simply does not have the power to select and decide what music the students should be listening to and it should only be concerned with providing a service that will be used by the most students and that will effectively reduce piracy.
First off, "a service that will be used by the most students" !necessarily= "a service that provides all RIAA music". Students care about DRM too.
Second, that's not their only concern anyway. Another is cost - they could just buy every student whatever CDs and iTMS tracks they wanted, thus satisfying all student demand for music and eliminating illegal downloads, but it would be prohibitively expensive. This solution is presumably a lot cheaper, and will still get some use.
Students aren't going to adapt to the music that is on the download service they're either going to get what they want or disregard it.
All I can say to this is I think time will prove you wrong. It won't replace P2P downloads entirely, but students will find music they like on this service, especially once UC radio stations start playing music from there. If any group is open to new music, it's college students.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
I bet UC is paying next to nothing for this with minidawn hoping to profit on more musicians signing up to distribute music through their service (for $50). If i were a struggling band, I'd considering paying $50 to have my music distributed to 200,000 college students. And i'm sure those of you saying how crap the minidawn music selection is are the same ones calling for RIAA boycots in other post. I, for one, think it's great that a university is choosing to promote non-RIAA music to students.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
I'm a UC Berkeley student, and I'll say now that I'm not interested for exactly this reason. Sorry, but I'll stick with CDs if I'm going to buy music.
Berkeley has some of the greatest music stores in the nation. They offer an amazing variety of music (including Pink Floyd) in full lossless audio and no DRM. Until the same is true for an online store, there really is no substitute. I'll take Ameoba over iTunes any day.
"!"
Yeah, I'm sure that 9 out of 10 /.ers could put up an equivalent download service in ten minutes.
This is called a creative solution. While RIAA is telling everyone to look at the waving hand, UC is saying, hey, let's be the hand with the rabbit.
Who says music==RIAA (apart from the RIAA)? The University at least is smart enough to realise that this is not the case and that it is not required to provide RIAA 'music' on tap.
$20 off of a $200 iPod mini, $30 off of a $300 regular iPod, that's a 10% discount. How does 10% qualify as "extensive"? I'm happy to take the 10% but it only a fair discount, "fair" as in a little better than mediocre not as in reasonable. Or maybe a token discount would be a better label. iPod is just too hot for anything more.
Geez, when iTunes, WMA or DRM in general comes up, everyone screams for support of Linux and non-DRM - When someone actually chooses a vendor that works on Linux and doesn't have DRM, it's suddenly not good enough.
Well, tough luck - a company has got to start from somewhere, and with a business-deal like this backing them, it's very likely that they're going to grow at a fast rate and add a lot more music to their portfolio.
This is good news for everyone not interested in the chain and ball that is DRM.
My <1000 UID is with a hot chick
I'm amazed that everyone is looking at Mindawn as it exists now, and not what it will be in a few years. It costs money to put albums onto the internet, and a sweet deal like serving 200,000 students is certainly enough money for them to expand their repertoire.
Also, you have to make tradeoffs for any service. In this case, the tradeoff is accessability. iTunes costs a bundle if you actually build up a collection (like any legal audiophile will), and you couldn't use it on Linux, and DRM, etc. On the other extreme, I remember the days of unlimited downloads on emusic.com, when it was only about $15 for as much non-mainstream music as you wanted.
I'm not one to say that indie is better than mainstream, but it's certainly true that there are so many bands out there that you will be able to find a band similar to your favorite band if you look for it. Very few bands nowadays have a truly original sound - most just use psuedo-individualization to give the illusion of being original. I'm just waiting for the next big genre to hit at this point.
Anyways, the point is, music is music.