Students at Stanford University will get a year of free digital music, thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor to the college.
Beginning next week, Stanford will join a growing number of other colleges around the country in promoting or providing free access to online music subscription services, aiming to draw students away from legally risky file-swapping networks.
Unlike some other universities, Stanford has declined to pay for students' subscriptions itself, or use student fees to subsidize the costs. But during the program's first year, which the college regards as a pilot project, the costs will be covered by the outside donor's money.
"We did not want to earmark university funds, because this is not part of our research or teaching mission," said Susan Weinstein, Stanford director of business development.
The Stanford service will be the first school music program for Yahoo, which launched its digital music subscription service in May and has sought to attract subscribers quickly by undercutting rivals' prices.
As with other subscription services, Yahoo allows unlimited streaming or downloads of songs to a computer. Unlike its rivals, it also allows subscribers to transfer songs to portable devices for the same price, $6.99 a month. Other services charge a higher price for subscriptions compatible with portable devices, because record labels charge a higher wholesale rate for those rights.
In Stanford's case, at the end of the trial year, students' monthly subscription rates will go up to $1.75 a month for the basic Yahoo subscription, and $4.75 a month for the version compatible with portable devices, Weinstein said.
The university chose Yahoo after evaluating it along with several other services, and seeing it get the best review from students, Weinstein said.
Although news of the anonymous donor's support quickly sent speculation winging toward Stanford alums and Yahoo co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, Weinstein said the money would have applied to any music service, and was not tied to use of the Yahoo program.
Music is indeed the " heart of the human mind" in that even before birth the sounds of the heart and the rushing of the blood in the veins are " music" to the "child" so then little wonder that we all view Music at such a high requard. and on that point i like to congratulate all those that encourage music...but then is caccophone music ;-) some thought, now i would alike to also mentionthat science is also a fndamental part of life breathing,the heart beat and the need for the " hole in the heart" to me mended soon after birth, so with that i will like to ask you to look at this site <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/eagle_averro_isme/my_photos" target="_newWindow">http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/eagle_averro_isme/my_photos</a> and then tell me why is it that Yahoo and the powers to be donot " protect" the rights of people to have a " science" site under a Science label in Yahoo forum so which is more important to you? Music relaxes the soul scince expents soul and mind...and makes the future viable . would like to hear YOUR comments
Yeah kids, download all the songs you want, all year long. Knock yourselves out.
But after that "free" first year contract expires, guess what? Those songs that you've been downloading and toting around campus for the last year aren't yours, and if you intend to keep them, your going to have to pay for them. Of course you could renew your "subscription" presumably out of your own pocket, but the songs still aren't yours. If you want WMP-DRM only versions (read, not iPod compatible, but you already know that) you have to pay for each and every song - separately - in addition to your monthly subscription fees.
It will be a good lesson, albeit hard, for the students.
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yourselves out.
But after that "free" first year contract expires, guess what?
Those songs that you've been downloading and toting around
campus for the last year aren't yours, and if you intend to keep
them, your going to have to pay for them. Of course you could
renew your "subscription" presumably out of your own pocket,
but the songs still aren't yours. If you want WMP-DRM only
versions (read, not iPod compatible, but you already know that)
you have to pay for each and every song - separately - in
addition to your monthly subscription fees.
It will be a good lesson, albeit hard, for the students.