NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The digital music revolution has a new home at
Vanderbilt University with the launch of VUmix, a comprehensive
download service that will offer students and staff a safe, legal and
inexpensive way to obtain and share music.
The centerpiece of VUmix is a new partnership with Napster, one of the
largest providers of online music with a library of more than 800,000
songs from major and independent record labels.
Beginning Oct. 1, all Vanderbilt students – undergraduate, graduate and
professional – will be able to become members of the Napster
subscription service and enjoy unlimited listening to full-length songs
and a variety of other features for a discounted price of $16 for the
academic year. In addition, students can purchase songs and albums from
Napster to burn or transfer to an MP3 player or CD for 99 cents a song,
or as little as $9.95 per album. Vanderbilt faculty and staff also will
be eligible to access the same Napster service for a reduced rate of
$6.95 per month.
"VUmix is a continuation of our efforts to educate students about the
very real problems of piracy and theft of intellectual property," said
Chancellor Gordon Gee. "We are delighted to work in tandem with Napster
to offer a great benefit to our students and staff." Gee added, "As
citizens and representatives of Music City, Vanderbilt students now
have a way to be leaders in the music world through VUmix."
"We are thrilled that another prestigious institution has decided to
rely on Napster to introduce its students to the exciting world of
legal digital music," said Aileen Atkins, Napster’s senior vice
president of business affairs. "We are confident that Vanderbilt
students, faculty and staff will enjoy having easy access to the many
benefits of Napster’s compelling subscription service."
Napster is available on the Windows PC operating system. For Mac users,
Vanderbilt also has facilitated access to Apple’s iTunes music playing
software and music store for both Mac and PC formats. iTunes supports
Apple’s popular iPod digital player.
VUmix is part of Vanderbilt’s ongoing efforts to ensure that all
members of the university community are aware of, and understand, the
legal and ethical implications of illicit file sharing. In establishing
the agreement with Napster, the university has been working closely
with the Campus Action Network (CAN), an initiative dedicated to
facilitating the introduction of safe, legitimate digital music
services to the campus environment. CAN, which is led by Sony BMG Music
Entertainment and other record companies, works with a wide range of
legitimate online music services and helps institutions to create
programs that uniquely fit their needs, as well as the needs of their
student bodies.
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately
6,300 undergraduates and 4,800 graduate and professional students.
Founded in 1873, the university comprises 10 schools, a public policy
center, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First
Amendment Center. Vanderbilt, ranked as one of the nation’s top
universities, offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and
sciences, engineering, music, education and human development, and a
full range of graduate and professional degrees.
The Campus Action Network (CAN) is a music industry-wide effort led by
Sony BMG Music Entertainment and other record companies. CAN’s
principal objective is to ensure that students have access to safe,
legitimate digital music services, and it is working to support the
launch of legitimate music services on campuses around the country. CAN
provides universities with introductions, information and support on a
broad array of online music services. CAN does not recommend or endorse
any one service or technology to institutions.
For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News Service homepage at www.vanderbilt.edu/News.
Media contact: Michael Schoenfeld, (615) 343-1790
michael.schoenfeld@vanderbilt.edu
News Service: (615) 322-2706 (24-7 contact information)