Eastern Michigan University students are in select company.
They are from one of the first five universities nationwide
that have convenient access to emerging musical artists
thanks to a new music (legal) downloading service.
FreshTracksMusic offers new music not currently owned
by the major record labels. By downloading the music before
it reaches the major labels, students are saved the expense
of paying 99 cents per track on the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) approved sites. This way,
students can enjoy some of the best independent music at
a more affordable price.
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A FRESH DOWNLOAD: Anbil Abraham, an Eastern
Michigan University post-graduate student from
Canton, loads FreshTracksMusic on his iPod Nano
at
Halle Library. EMU is one of five universities
that
provides the service, which
allows students, as well
as faculty and staff, to
enjoy unlimited downloads of
emerging musical artists
not signed to labels. The
cost is $36 annually. Photo
by Randy Mascharka
|
"The more famous artists get a huge cut, so students are
paying their (artists') royalties when they download from
Napster," said Brian Fitzgerald, associate director of
housing at EMU. "With FreshTracks, its more new music and
up-and-coming artists. It's a cheaper alternative to Napster."
Students, as well as staff and faculty, can access the
service for a discounted, flat annual fee of $36, and enjoy
unlimited downloads. Music files are in unrestricted MP3
format, meaning that they can be burned to CDs, e-mailed
to friends, uploaded to any MP3 player (including iPods)
and kept forever — even if the user discontinues
the service. No special software is required.
EMU is one of FreshTrack's first five university partners.
The service has been available at EMU since winter 2006,
and is provided at no cost to the University.
"We've had great success with this so far at other schools,
such as Vanderbilt and Ole Miss," said John Wanzung, co-founder
of FreshTracks. "We thought EMU would be a good fit because
they already have Napster, and FreshTracks augments what
Napster does."
The FreshTracks catalog consists of music of many genres,
including alternative, hip hop, pop, rock and country.
Some of the more well-known artists include Slightly Stoopid,
Michigan-based Domestic Problems and Brian Vander Arc,
lead singer of The Verve Pipe. Major-label recording artists,
The Fray, were on FreshTracks before they were signed.
FreshTracks makes it easy for subscribers to find the
music they like. The site is set up as a series of recommendations.
For example, if you like Coldplay, OAR or Usher, FreshTracks
recommends bands that are similar. Visitors can listen
to any songs, in their entirety, for free before they sign
up for the service.
In addition to providing the service, FreshTracks also
will help students jump-start their careers in the music
industry and promote local music. FreshTracks will oversee
a FreshTracksMusic board that will be responsible for promotion,
including producing local shows and writing reviews in
the Eastern Echo. EMU bands will get their own page on
FreshTracks, and will be able to share their songs with
students at other universities across the country.
Another way FreshTracks plans to get involved in campus
life is by partnering with student organizations. At other
schools, FreshTracks donated $5 for each person who signed
up with organizations that helped promote the service.
They plan to make similar deals with student organizations
at EMU, said Wanzung.
In approximately one month, FreshTracks will launch a
new EMU page featuring play lists generated by EMU students,
the most popular songs at EMU, and personal pages for students.
Interested students, staff and faculty (anyone with a
my.emich e-mail address) can sign up for FreshTracks through
the link on the housing page. For those looking for major-label
releases, Napster will remain available.
For more information about the FreshTracksMusic board,
or to promote your band, e-mail Joe Lambert at joe@freshtracksmusic.com.
