UNC-system free music program to end April 30

With one month remaining in the UNC-system online music initiative, the five schools participating in the pilot program are exploring ways to continue providing the downloading service for students.

The program, offered on a free trial basis by the UNC system beginning in January, allows students to access a range of online music providers.

UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University, Western Carolina University, UNC-Wilmington, N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University and N.C. School of the Arts are all participating.

Students at UNC-CH and N.C. State have received free services from vendors Cdigix, Napster, Rhapsody and Ruckus Network, while the other campuses are each using one vendor.

The pilot program ends April 30, and Tom Warner, director of coordinated technology management for the UNC system, said the decision of what to do next will be handled on a school-by-school basis.

Most universities are leaning toward an “opt-in, opt-out” situation, Warner said. This method would give students the option to sign up for different vendor programs on their own while paying a discounted rate negotiated by the university.

“Service providers are going to establish billing services directly with students,” Warner said during a Friday meeting of the UNC-system Association of Student Governments.

Dan Reed, vice chancellor for information technology at UNC-CH, said schools hope to get a better deal in return for giving the companies access to the student market.

“The collective bargaining position of the University is better than the students’ (position),” he said. “I expect it to be cheaper.”

Reed said the University would look for ways to continue providing options for students after the trial period ends.

“We have gained experience with different vendors,” Reed said. “We will sit down and try to draw our experiences into a plan for the future.”

“Anything we do in the fall would be opt-in, opt-out to not put financial burden on those who do not want it,” Reed added.

Marlow Hinton, director of research computing at N.C. A&T, said the school’s program has been successful thus far.

“Over 1,000 students are using the program, averaging 200 downloads per student,” he said.

N.C. A&T also is looking to continue with its downloading service, Hinton said.

“We will take a survey of the students and start a focus group this week,” he said.

Josh Weiner, director of communications for Ruckus Network, said the company is used to working with individual schools.

“Every school is different,” he said. “We work with each school to tailor our services toward them.”

He said that many schools use a site-license system, in which the university pays a flat rate, but that the company is happy to provide an opt-in, opt-out service.

While each school is working out the details, officials say the music pilot has unquestionably been a success.

“I think it has gone very well,” Warner said. “It will only expand from here.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.