MusicSelect: Millions of Songs, No Lawsuits

MusicSelect is a digial music service that gives students, faculty, and staff of eligible schools the opportunity to acquire digital music legally at discount prices. Students living in main residence halls will already be members because the program is a part of the residential services; other students can join for $6/quarter.

MusicSelect

Download tracks to your dorm PC and listen while you pound the books. Visit your friends in other dorms and stream your entire music library to keep the music playing for that all nighter you are pulling. MusicSelect lets you do it all.

Millions of Songs.

MusicSelect currently offers year-round service from Napster (which now works with MacOS and Linux) and up to 80 downloads from eMusic.

What happened to iTunes? In late September, Apple informed us that it was effectively withdrawing from MusicSelect since it no longer sells music in bulk. We have Apple that this move would not be popular with their student key market, but they didn't budge. Fortunately, we've found an even better replacement for iTunes.

eMusic has replaced iTunes. Students who choose eMusic get 20 downloads per quarter (up from the 7 offered with iTunes) and those songs come in the open MP3 format so they'll work with any brand of computer or portable music player (iTunes worked only with iPods). Because eMusic focuses on the indepentent artist instead of the big record lables, they are a better complement to Napster since together they offer a broader array of music that MusicSelect has ever had before.

No Lawsuits.

Best of call, MusicSelect provides you with a legal way to get music. Whether you prefer pay-per-song or an "all-you-can-eat" subscription, MusicSelect ensures that music obtained through the program is legal and will not lead to a lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The so-called "free music" that many people find online can turn out to by anything but free. In addition to being again our Acceptable Use Policy, it's against the law to transmit or receive music and other protected works without the permission of the copyright holder. Hundreds of students around the country have been sued in federal court. The average cost of this "free music" is about $9,000 with attorney fees and settlement costs.