The Triangle

Issue date: 10/19/07 Section: Ed-Op

With the onslaught of lawsuits against college students by the Recording Industry of America, Drexel University decided to take a welcome and innovative approach - work with students to give them the music they demand legally.

Starting in 2005, Drexel partnered with Napster and the iTunes Music Store to bring music to Drexel students. It seemed the University and private industry was finally able to put aside their unquenchable thirst for cash in the interest of providing quality service.

Now, it seems that Apple has decided it is simply too popular for Drexel students.

Apple has refused to renew its deal with Drexel which, as a part of the Music Select program, allowed students residing in the dorms to download 28 songs each year for free.

It's been weeks since students arrived on campus and began expanding their music arsenal by at least a few songs to get them through the school year. Without Music Select available, we wonder how many of those songs were downloaded legally. We are afraid many students have already developed the habit of illegally downloading music. Worst of all, The RIAA already came knocking at Drexel's door this academic year. On Oct. 18, 17 Drexel students received pre-litigation letters from the RIAA.

Back to the culprit of this mess: Apple. Maybe Apple can justify pulling song codes off Pepsi cans on the market, but pulling them from a college campus of potential future shoppers is nothing short of preposterous.

Apple is alienating their market of iPod users here at Drexel. Music Select's other offering, Napster, will reportedly soon support Macintosh and Linux platforms, but there is no support for the ever-ominous iPod. With Apple pulling out, they're basically telling students that they don't want iPod users to be able to have the same perks as non-iPod users.

Sure, Apple's share in the music market continues to grow, but that never means they should alienate customers. Promotions, including something as small as bulk download cards good for a few songs, will ensure that students continue to download music from the iTunes Music Store once they start.

Bravo to Drexel for moving forward and polling students for a new vendor, but it's simply too late. Students who want music will have already gotten it through other means, and so illegal downloads begin. Napster users have been unable for almost two months to play any songs, including ones that they had downloaded previously, so they too have looked to other means.

So, Apple, get a reality check - you are not so great that you can forget about those of us who chose to stay legal and use iTunes - and Drexel, the lack of a legal music solution for students should have been prevented. Something, even if it was just Napster, should have been made available at the beginning of the academic year.

This profit first business model is particularly surprising from Apple - a company famous for being the underdog and pushing its "Think Different" slogan.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs was noted for insisting that iTunes be allowed to continue to sell songs for 99 cents while the money-hungry RIAA wanted to rise prices.

"If they want to raise the prices, it means that they are getting greedy," Jobs said in a press conference about song prices.

Who's acting greedy now, Steve Jobs?



The Editorial Board



Ali Qari
Anthony Cesarini
Aditi Dubey
Tim Ehrlich
Kaushal Toprani
Noah Cohen
Brett Fischer

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