“Princeton University has joined a growing list of colleges that have deals to allow students to download music free — and legally,” The Associated Press reports. “The Ivy League school announced the arrangement Wednesday with Ruckus, a Virginia-based company that markets music solely to college students.”
“Under the deal, Princeton students can put all the music they want on their computer hard drives through Ruckus’ library of 1.5 million tracks. The songs are free because advertisers pay the company to get on Web sites that students see,” AP reports.
AP reports, “But there’s a catch: It will cost students about $20 a semester to be able to put the tunes on their portable MP3 players. And the many Princeton students toting Apple’s iPod will be out of luck. The music won’t play on those popular devices.”
Full article here.
A stupid move by a supposedly top tier institution. Ruckus is a limited, exclusionary, Windows-only outfit. Apple iPods and Macs are not supported. How many Princeton students are excluded? Many. Look around, Princeton decision-makers. See all of those MacBooks? Notice all of those iMacs in the dorms? 45-percent of computers purchased at Princeton this year were Apple Macs, you morons! What idiot signed off on this stupidity?
Princeton has failed their student body. If they signed with an elevator service that offered narrow doors not wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, you’d bet there’d be a “ruckus” at Princeton, wouldn’t you?
There is zero difference here except they’re excluding a much larger group of students. Why has Princeton decided to exclude a large portion of their student body? Are Princeton students asking administrators why this bad deal was made? They should be.
The smart decision, the one that supports ALL students, whether they use Macs or suffer with Windows, and supports iPods, which we’d guestimate comprises 80-percent or more of Princeton students with MP3 players, is Apple’s iTunes U.
Apple’s iTunes U is a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides easy access to their educational content, including lectures and interviews, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Based on the same easy-to-use technology of the iTunes Store, iTunes U also offers typical Apple simplicity and portability. Through iTunes U, students can download content to their Macs or PCs, regardless of their location. They can listen to and view that content on their Mac or PC, or transfer it to iPod for listening or viewing on the go. Instructors can easily post and change content on their own without impacting the IT department. And, of course, students can upload their own content to share with professors or with the class.
In addition to providing a great conduit for digital academic content, iTunes is also the largest source of legal digital music available online. So students can buy and download music that has both educational and entertainment value, with all copyrights honored and the full support of the music industry.
Apple allows for the purchase of songs at a discount on behalf of educational institutions’ students through the iTunes Volume Songs Program.
More information: http://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/itunes_u.html
Related articles:
45-percent of computers purchased at Princeton this year were Apple Macs – October 12, 2006
College students spurn ‘free’ music from iPod-incompatible iTunes Store also-rans – September 13, 2006
Free, legal and ignored: Mac- and iPod-incompatible beleaguered Napster dying at colleges – July 06, 2006
Ohio University chooses Apple’s iTunes U for students and faculty – May 11, 2006
University of California puts video lectures on Apple’s ‘iTunes U’ – April 25, 2006
University of Pennsylvania excludes Mac users with Windows-only music service – March 21, 2006
Apple and Stanford University open ‘Stanford on iTunes’ to the public – January 25, 2006
Apple expands free, hosted ‘iTunes U’ service for colleges and universities – January 24, 2006
I guess they don’t have courses in marketing at Princeton
uuuh… MDN? perhaps comparing mac users to the disabled isn’t the best analogy…
Old Albert E. will turn in his grave. He never appreciated stupidity.
– It is insane that our higher-ed system is spending resources and time figuring out how to get students “free” download music legally so as to curb students from stealing it off the interent, because “If we don’t, they’ll steal it anyways” mentality.
Hello?! Anyone with reason come in please!
How about college’s focus on educating and lowering tuition $20 a semester!?
Better yet, let’s use that money to teach our young minds-o-mush some ethical and moral boundries and the consequense of their actions…
Oh sorry, what was I thinking?… Anyone got another Keg?!
This is really bad. Once again a few decide for many. This looks just like the IT managers at companies, a few decide for the rest, and dont seem to care about their “customers” they only see “users” (i.e dummies)
Some Princeton purchasing prick is on the take.
Just wondering, with such a compelling product as iTunes U, how did this deal with Princeton actually go through? Did they consider alternatives? Did anyone on the technology board know about iTunes U? Did Apple market iTunes U to every university? I wish we could find out their decision-making process, instead of them springing this surprise disaster on the college community. Usually huge deals like this have to go before a technology board for public or administrative input.
Another unfortunate factor could be, as much as iTunes is popular, college admins and technology groups in the academic field don’t have a clue that iTunes U even exists. These decision-makers just sign on to whatever company courts them aggressively and first. I’m almost sure that Apple hasn’t done any sort of marketing for iTunes U. Remember how their academic market share was eroding a few years ago because they pulled all their personnel out of hyping Apple at schools?
Never even heard of Ruckus, so that tells you how popular this outfit is. Probably has no name music by amature artists too.
What a waste of money. I hope the students aren’t forced to pay $20 a semester for this crap. If not they won’t get much business from Princeton.
Institutions are risk averse and that is what is driving these ‘agreements’. It’s not anything more than legal cover for schools from getting sued over students breaking the DMCA over their networks. They can go into court and state that they have provided a legal outlet for students to acquire digital music.
Princeton’s admin doesn’t care who it’s with as long as it is available. Repeat- it’s not about providing a service to students as much as legal cover for the school.
This is the epitome of the backroom deal, as was Microsoft’s deal with Universal to get a piece of every Zune sold.
The deal that really matters is the one the individual makes when he or she purchases either music or a device to play it on.
Not supporting the iPod/Mac is like not having wheelchair access??
Ruckus?
Reminds me of the word “dufus”.
It will be interesting to see (follow=up idea here, MDN) to see how many students subscribe.
Tell you something else.
I’ll bet 80% ipod owners is incorrect. Higher.
Maybe 90%?
Yea, but Ruckus is FREE for students. iTunes U costs money for students. Which do you think would encourage more students to legally download music?
That <u>must</u> be a typo.
Shouldn’t Ruckus be spelled with an F instead of an R?
I hate to point it out… and in fact iTunes U may do this… but doesn’t that option exclude other mp3 players? I mean, yes, they are probably in the minority number wise. But if we’re going to bitch about segments of the population being excluded, shouldn’t we also be asking Apple to open iTunes U up to other players? Or at least asking for two services so none of the students are excluded?
“Not supporting the iPod/Mac is like not having wheelchair access??’
Only if they are scrollwheelchairs.
Tomo, the point is that blatant discrimination is bad policy in an education of higher learning. Do you not understand the concept of an analogy?
Since the Zune eco-system is only for Zune market place; didn’t they just alienate the Zune people too? So, they are saying that the plays for sure strategy is working against MS too? Irony really is a wonderful thing. Too bad it doesn’t really matter as it sounds as if they won’t have many people actually using the service.
Typical decision made by someone who doesn’t get it and just reason in terms of numbers.
IT Guy and the Manager having to sign the deal:
M: What about Ruckus?
IT: Yeah, compatible with most MP3 player brands.
M: I heard not with iPod though.
IT: Indeed, but that’s one brand. Students will be able to use all others.
M: Ok, that sounds fair. An MP3 player is an MP3 player, right? What about costs?
IT: Ruckus would come to just $20 per semester per student.
M: Yeah, not bad, but not on an iPod, right?
IT: Right but $20 on an iPod would only get 20 songs, in two semesters that is 40 songs maximum per student. With Ruckus they could get all they want with the $20 subscription.
M: Ok, you convinced me. Let’s get Ruckus. It’s clearly the best solution. Ah, could you get an MP3 for my daughter as well?
IT: Sure, Microsoft just released Zune, it has got wireless.
M: Fantastic, get one for me please
************************************************************************
They do not get it!
BTW, Ruckus does not work on Zune either.
“The smart decision, the one that supports ALL students, whether they use Macs or suffer with Windows”
What about those who decided to stop suffering with Windows and installed Linux, because they couldn’t afford a Mac, or other reasons?
First, comparing the choice of Ruckus to small elevator doors is asinine.
Higher Ed institutions are dealing with risk liability on the issue of music sharing which is one reason an agreement like this gets done. They are continually getting DCMA notices resulting from student use of campus (funded by public funds in many cases) networks to illegally share music. Dealing with these notices takes up valuable staff resources and puts the institution at risk for lawsuits. One way to deal with this issue is to provide other means or even multiple means for students to legally obtain music. My institution is getting ready to go with a request for proposal (RFP) for a service such as this and already has an agreement with Apple for iTunes U in hand. The Apple agreement is mainly to facilitate podcasting on campus and not about providing music. Apple does not provide a cost effect way to provide music to students via iTunes. They already own the market so why should they? Lets face it, everyone with an iPod already has iTunes and uses it anyway so iTunes U is not going to affect that one bit. iPods are king on every campus and Ruckus is not going to change that. However, Ruckus can provide a valuable service on campus with social networking tools. Also if a student likes a tune they hear on Ruckus, they can slide over to iTunes and purchase it for their iPod. Think of Ruckus as providing free previews. In the interest of disclosure, I use a Mac every day and they will only get my iPod away from me by yanking it out of my cold dead hands.
UNDENIABLE FACT 1: Young people want their music PORTABLE, period!
UNDENIABLE FACT 2: It is no one’s goal to sit in front of (or anywhere near) a computer and rock out in a dorm room! They want music on their MP3 players, pure and simple.
UNDENIABLE FACT 3: Add up the market share of the Zune and the iPod and subtract it from 100. What does that leave you with, perhaps 10% of the student body being able to take their tunes with them from the Ruckus service?
UNDENIABLE FACT 4: Someone’s head is gonna’ roll at good old PU!
All groups and institutions are prone to their Stalin types grabbing some power and inflicting it on others. These are the bozos — the poisoners of life and joy.
I’m sure the Princeton students will cause a major stink and they certainly will not be using the (R/F)uckus service — bend over and grab your ankles — by any significant measure. This will serve as a warning to universities to not shove down the throats of students the garbage that free choice markets have already rejected.
Biscuit-
are you nuts?
Makes me smile with common sympathy to hear about a US zero-brain outfit, as the UK is full of it.
I cite the ad on this MDN page for Tesco, a store that offered a ‘free download’ at World Soccer Cup time, and would it play on an iPod — I leave the answer to you.
Their IT tech claimed he’d had “a lot of trouble with his iPod”, which I took as suit-speak for talking out of his crack.
Hmmm, just wondering. Does WMP DRM work on a Mac??? I can see Ruckus needing a DRM to get the music owners to let it do its thing, but I did not think plays-for-sure works on a mac computer (well, not counting Boot camp) ???????
Any input on this???
N.
Russell says, “Yea, but Ruckus is FREE for students. iTunes U costs money for students. Which do you think would encourage more students to legally download music?”
Obviously you didn’t attend Princeton. If you had, you would realize that neither situation encourages students to legally download music.
CrazyMomma says, “I hate to point it out… and in fact iTunes U may do this… but doesn’t that option exclude other mp3 players? I mean, yes, they are probably in the minority number wise. But if we’re going to bitch about segments of the population being excluded, shouldn’t we also be asking Apple to open iTunes U up to other players? Or at least asking for two services so none of the students are excluded?”
The free stuff from iTunes U is just like a podcast, in unprotected MP3. Which would you rather have, Ruckus that only works on PC’s–NOT Macs, and NOT iPods, or iTunes U that works on PC’s, Macs, iPods, and CD players?
All the colleges are run by Leftwing Morons, so what do you expect…? Brains?
MDN: Instructors can easily post and change content on their own without impacting the IT department.
Therein lies the reason: The IT Dept wants job security and more reason for their expansion and existence.
Plain and simple. And ridiculous.
“- It is insane that our higher-ed system is spending resources and time figuring out how to get students “free” download music legally so as to curb students from stealing it off the interent, because “If we don’t, they’ll steal it anyways” mentality.
Hello?! Anyone with reason come in please!”
The big problem is that the students were using the school’s network to illegally download music. This leaves the colleges open to potential lawsuits. The bean counters have figured that it’s cheaper to pay for the service than to hand out the winnings of ‘The Great American Lottery’ to music execs with dollar signs in their eyes.
As for overpriced tuition, that is an issue. There was a study put out that showed that the INTEREST on the money donated to the school was more than enough to run the school without charging tuition, yet they still charge tens of thousands of dollars per year per student.
Higher ed said:
If a student has an iPod, how are they supposed to “like a tune they hear on Ruckus” and then go buy it for their iPod? I thought the point of the “ruckus” was that Ruckus was iPod [bold]incompatible[/bold].
[bold] tag should have been
It would be nice to be able to edit our posts… how about it, MDN??
Weeell,
Basically we all know hat is going to happen with these high tech unlimitted tunes for free services. The biggest nerd on the floor highjacks the music over to stripped MP3 format and shares it with anyone with a big hard drive on campus. ie EVERYONE. So, actually for the students, this may be a better deal- someone would actually have to pay a dollar for each song on iTunes.
Even if that’s not the case, methinks the cow is already out of the barn on most campuses- I’ve run into students touting >250GB collections- that’s where music stands today on campus. So who really needs any service?
“What idiot signed off on this stupidity?”
As another noted, the IT personnel at major universities are not noted for anything other than their amount of toadiness. In this case, I agree- someone is on the take with this- it’s been seen before. There is no other scenario for this kind of obstinate idiocy.
Well, well, well, as an alumnus of Princeton (I bought my first Mac while a student there), I must say that this kind of decision isn’t going to help them loosen my purse strings to give them any donations….
What a bonehead decision from a great university!
Legal Cover / Higher Ed
Spot on – this is just the cheapest way that Princeton can say to the DCMA that they have provided an alternative to music piracy. The University cannot shut down internet access or regulate it since it is needed for legitimate purposes. If Apple provided a music subscription service then they could compete in this area, but for probably the right reasons it is not worth it.
<cue “The Boondocks” backbeat>
“Y’all need to leave Princeton alone. The white man knows what he’s doin’ and he done chosen the best service. All y’all pickanniny iPod users need to just shut the hell up.”
MDN word “poor”. Y’all poor people need to let the white man get on with his bidness…
There seems to be a lot of confusion here.
Princeton did *not* do any sort of of exclusive agreement with Ruckus.
Princeton is *not* forcing students to subscribe to Ruckus or charging any mandatory fee.
Complaining about this is on the same level as complaining that student gift baskets some students may decide to buy don’t work on iPods.
All Princeton did was agree to sign up for a discount for students for a particular service some may choose.
Universities typically do this for any service that does no harm.
The Ivy League: It’s not what you know it’s who you know.
Ruckus probably has some alumni connection.
With iTunes U you can share playlists on the same network. That’s almost as good as an all you can eat service and it’s free.
Princeton has really enhanced their reputation with this boneheaded move. Do they pick their tenured Professors with the same consummate skill?
I don’t get it – the last time I checked, my iPod and iTunes Library were .mp3 compatible. So how can an abitrary .mp3 player play .mp3 files, and not my iPod???? Am I missing something here?
“I don’t get it – the last time I checked, my iPod and iTunes Library were .mp3 compatible. So how can an abitrary .mp3 player play .mp3 files, and not my iPod???? Am I missing something here?”
The term “MP3 Player” is a generic term for all the music players. The “PlaysForSure” sites use a digital rights management that Microsoft does not make available for Mac and that don’t play on iPods which use the “FairPlay” DRM.
Shouldn’t our schools focus on EDUCATION and not spend money on music services that no one will use? No wonder tuitions are so high…
For Huh?
Sorry, I may not have been clear. Both iTunes and Ruckus should have the same songs for the most part. Not always true but will be more often than not. If you are using the Ruckus service and hear a song you like and want to put it on your iPod you can search for the same song on iTunes and purchase it for use on your iPod. That is what I was referring to.
Anything you download with Ruckus, just reconvert it with any audio converter into a standard mp3. OK, drm might stop that but there must be something that works. I know WireTap does it, but only one at a time and in real time.
Or better still, stick with what you know. Continue to buy from the Store if you wish or nick em off Limewire or whatever.
MDN Take excerpt: “Ruckus is a limited, exclusionary, Windows-only outfit. Apple iPods and Macs are not supported.”
Interoperability is a very long word. Can you spell IT?
Another tempest in a teapot.
They aren’t BLOCKING access to the iTunes Store from the campus network, are they? So it’s not like iPod users are being prevented from legally downloading all the music they want.
This service is AD-SUPPORTED. The advertisers are paying for it. Not students, not the university. What is there for students or the university to lose? At worst, it’s another option that some people won’t want to use or won’t be able to use (just like every other non-Apple DRM service already out there for iPod owners, which they knew already)
Any who has posted negative comments here is an idiot. I was the one who brought the service to Princeton and I worked my but off for 6 months to do it. There is currently no free downloading service for MACS and I encourage all of you to write if there is one. I had two options: Do something for the benefit of no students or do something that would benefit half of them. I chose the latter and now students can listen to full albums before they pay 10 dollars to buy a crappy one.
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