If your question is not answered below, please let us know.
- 1.1. What is Napster?
- 1.2. Why is Vanderbilt providing a music downloading service to its students?
- 1.3. Is Vanderbilt the first higher education institution to implement a service like this?
- 1.4. How many digital music service company products were considered by Vanderbilt before the decision to partner with Napster was made?
- 1.5. Why did Vanderbilt choose Napster?
- 1.6. How does providing Napster educate students about copyright?
- 1.7. What music services are offered through this arrangement?
- 1.8. What is the cost of this service to each Vanderbilt student, and how will it affect tuition rates?
- 1.9. When will the service become available?
- 1.10. Does Napster monitor what I'm listening to and downloading?
- 1.11. Does Vanderbilt monitor what I'm listening to and downloading?
- 2.1. Who is eligible to use the service?
- 2.2. What kind of equipment and software do I need?
- 2.3. Is this service accessible on all computing platforms (i.e. Windows and Macintosh)?
- 2.4. Can students save music files to hard drives and/or burn them on to CDs via this service?
- 2.5. What is "tethered downloading" and how does it work?
- 2.6. How much does it cost to burn a CD or download to my hard drive if I really like a song and want to keep it in my collection permanently?
- 2.7. To listen to music you must be connected to the Internet, right?
- 2.8. Can songs be burned onto CDs?
- 2.9. Am I allowed to import tracks from non-Napster sources into my music collection?
- 2.10. Will the tracks I already downloaded work in Napster?
- 2.11. Can I use Napster on my Mac?
- 2.12. What if I already have a Napster account?
- 2.13. Can I connect to my Napster account from anywhere using my laptop?
- 2.14. How does Napster decide what songs are available on the local server?
- 2.15. What exactly can I do for free?
- 2.16. What exactly do I have to pay for?
- 2.17. Why are some songs highlighted blue?
- 2.18. How do I pay for songs?
- 2.19. How do I get help if I have a problem?
- 2.20. Can downloads be transferred to an iPod?
- 2.21. When is Janus going live in Napster?
- 2.22. When will I be able to take music libraries on portable devices as part of the subscription service?
- 3.1. I tried to register but got error messages about Shibboleth and Inter-institutional Access System Failure. What's wrong?
- 3.2. I completed my registration and installation successfully, but when I attempt to sign in to Napster, I get an error saying "We couldn't retrieve some of your account information. Please sign in again." Signing in again does not work. What should I do?
- 3.3. I successfully registered and installed Napster on my PC. However, I can't download songs to my hard drive or listen to any songs longer than the standard 30-second clips. I seem to have only the free version. How do I get the Vanderbilt version?
- 3.4. I successfully registered and installed Napster on my PC. However, when I try to sign in, I get an error message saying "Sorry, we are unable to sign you in. Please check your Internet connection and try again." What should I do?
- 3.5. I tried to register and got an error message, but don't remember what it said. What should I do?
- 4.1. Does the network support streaming?
- 4.2. Could the university network systems shut down because of the high demand for music? How will you deal with this?
- 4.3. Are residence hall bandwidth limits greatly affected by this service?
- 4.4. Can people outside the Vanderbilt network download songs from the Vanderbilt Napster caching server?
- 4.5. How can I tell if a song is affecting my residence hall bandwidth limit?
- 5.1. How will the University and the industry deal with students who continue to download music illegally once this new service is in place?
- 5.2. Will students be able to download movie files in the future?
- 5.3. How does Vanderbilt plan to obtain student feedback on this pilot program?
- 5.4. Will the IT Fee be increased to cover this service?
- 5.5. Are alumni eligible?
- 5.6. As a Vanderbilt staff member will I be able to use this service to listen to music while I'm at work?
- 5.7. When a student leaves the University or the academic year concludes, what happens to their Napster account?
Section 1. General Questions1.1. What is Napster?
Napster is a music service that offers over 1,000,000 tracks, along with tools for discovering and sharing music.
1.2. Why is Vanderbilt providing a music downloading service to its students?
Vanderbilt is concerned that some of its students don't understand that downloading music over computer networks without purchasing copyright permission is both unethical and against the law. The University believes it has a responsibility to do something to change that. Vanderbilt will continue to try to educate students on this issue and will continue to enforce its strong policies against copyright infringement. At the same time, the University wants to provide legal alternatives to illegal downloading. This service is directly aimed at helping students to understand the issue and providing them with an alternative.
1.3. Is Vanderbilt the first higher education institution to implement a service like this?
No, others have joined Vanderbilt in implementing such a service for its students.
1.4. How many digital music service company products were considered by Vanderbilt before the decision to partner with Napster was made?
The University surveyed the students and based its criterial on their responses. Vanderbilt considered a large number of online music providers and tested several of them before choosing Napster.
1.5. Why did Vanderbilt choose Napster?
In the end, Vanderbilt chose Napster to be its online music provider because they offered the widest number of features that the students requested in our survey.
1.6. How does providing Napster educate students about copyright?
By making Napster available at a very low cost to its students, Vanderbilt has provided a convenient way for students to obtain music legally. It is hoped that this initiative will curb the problem of illegal sharing of copyrighted files, while teaching students the concept of copyright and the importance of using legal means to obtain music. The Napster initiative is just a part of Vanderbilt's effort to educate the academic community about copyright and other related information and resources; see the ITS Policies relating to Computing And Networking.
1.7. What music services are offered through this arrangement?
Napster’s music service is offered. The Napster service includes over 1,000,000 tracks. Tracks can be streamed through the Internet or collected on your hard drive to listen to offline. Napster also offers commercial-free, interactive radio along with community tools for discovering and sharing music. The service is fully described at www.napster.com.
1.8. What is the cost of this service to each Vanderbilt student, and how will it affect tuition rates?
Students can opt-in to receive this service for just $16 for Oct. 1 - May 31 (or anytime during the semester at a pro-rated rate). This is a huge discount off the normal rate Napster charges its customers ($2 a month versus $12.95 each month).
1.9. When will the service become available?
October 1, 2004.
1.10. Does Napster monitor what I'm listening to and downloading?
Napster monitors and keeps records of all the tracks that are downloaded, purchased, or streamed. This is necessary not only to allow customers to recover their music if they lose it, but also for accounting purposes so that the artists and record labels are paid the correct royalties.
1.11. Does Vanderbilt monitor what I'm listening to and downloading?
Vanderbilt does not monitor, keep records of, or have an interest in students' music collections and downloads, other than to encourage and support legal methods of music acquisition.
Section 2. Using Napster2.1. Who is eligible to use the service?
All Vanderbilt students – undergraduate, graduate and professional – will
be able to subscribe to Napster for $16 for the Academic Year (join anytime at a pro-rated rate of $2 a month). Vanderbilt faculty and staff will also be eligible to access the Napster service for $9.95 per month.
2.2. What kind of equipment and software do I need?
See the requirements page for required and optional equipment and software.
2.3. Is this service accessible on all computing platforms (i.e. Windows and Macintosh)?
Currently, the service is only available to Windows 2000, XP, and Vista users. With the addition of certain software, it will also run on Macintosh computers; see question 2.11.
2.4. Can students save music files to hard drives and/or burn them to CDs via this service?
Thousands of tethered downloads are available and may be saved on the student's computer hard drive. Students may also purchase permanent copies of songs from Napster and then burn them to CDs or transfer them to a Napster-supported MP3 player via the service.
2.5. What is "tethered downloading" and how does it work?
Tethered downloading is effectively a rental of music and is very similar in concept to renting DVDs from a video store. Actually, it is a rental that continues as long as the monthly fees are paid, in this case either by the University or the student. Tethered downloading enables a user to log in to the Napster service from any computer that runs the Napster program and access those songs that have been downloaded. Songs downloaded in this manner can reside on the hard drive of no more than three computers at a time. You do not have to be connected to the internet to listen to these songs.
2.6. How much will it cost to burn a CD or download to my hard drive if I really like a song and want to keep it in my collection permanently?
The cost for a permanent download is currently $0.99 per track.
2.7. To listen to music you must be connected to the Internet, right?
You can listen to downloaded tracks without being connected to the Internet.
2.8. Can songs be burned onto CDs?
Tracks can be burned onto CD for only 99 cents a track, or purchase entire albums.
2.9. Am I allowed to import tracks from non-Napster sources into my music collection?
Yes.
2.10. Will the tracks I already downloaded work in Napster?
Yes. They will work, and are simple to load.
2.11. Can I use Napster on my Mac?
Napster is currently unavailable on the Macintosh operating system. Mac users can consider using Virtual PC, a software product which emulates the Windows operating system on a Macintosh computer. However, please note that reports are mixed on this solution. Some have found it to be satisfactory, while others have not. Visit Vanderbilt's Book Store for more information about Virtual PC.
Despite repeated requests from Vanderbilt and many other universities,
Apple iTunes does not offer any discounts to students or bulk purchasers.
They have also refused to license the technology necessary to deploy the
Napster service on Mac computers. Should that position change, we
understand that Napster is prepared to quickly implement a Mac-compatible
service. In the meantime, we encourage Mac and iPod users to continue using
the iTunes service for your legal music purchases.
2.12. What if I already have a Napster account?
You can not register multiple times using the same email address. If
you are currently using your university email address in an existing
Napster account, sign into your account, go to My Account, select Member
Information, than click the Edit button. You'll be able to remove your
university email address and register another. This will allow you to
use your university email address when you create a new university
account. If you need further assistance, please contact Napster.
2.13. Can I connect to my Napster account from anywhere using my laptop?
Yes, you should be able to register and use the Napster service anywhere that you have access to the Web, as long as you meet the requirements.
2.14. How does Napster decide what songs are available on the local server?
Song selection is based on popularity. The server is constantly populating and refreshing itself with the newest or most requested songs.
2.15. What exactly can I do for free?
You can listen to songs and download tracks. If a song can be streamed or downloaded, both of which are free using Napster with Vanderbilt registration, it will have a "buy track" status under the "buy track" column. To stream that track, you can either double-click on it, or you can right click then select "play." To download the track, you must right click on it and select "download track(s)." Neither of these cost anything.
2.16. What exactly do I have to pay for?
If you select "burn track," "buy track," or "buy album," then you will be charged 99 cents per song, or can purchase entire albums or varying rates. Songs that must be purchased are labeled "buy only." (Note that artists often change a song from "buy only" to "buy track" soon after the release date, so keep checking!)
2.17. Why are some songs highlighted blue?
The songs that are identified with a blue font are the most heavily requested tracks. Essentially, it's just a way for users to find popular songs quickly and easily.
2.18. How do I pay for songs?
There are currently two methods of paying for songs. You can either use a credit card (a pop-up window will appear prompting you for information) or use Napster Music Download Cards.
2.19. How do I get help if I have a problem?
See the support page for contact information.
2.20. Can downloads be transferred to an iPod?
Purchased tracks or "permanent downloads" can be transferred to an iPod but not directly from the Napster application. The user needs to burn the tracks to a cd, then use iTunes to rip the tracks back into an iPod supported format and transfer them to the iPod using iTunes.
2.21. When is Janus going live in Napster?
Janus is live today as part of Napster's Windows Media Player plug-in for MMP10.
2.22. When will I be able to take music libraries on portable devices as part of the subscription service?
The "Napster To Go" functionality will be available in the Napster client application very soon. This will be a seperate tier of the subscription and will require the use of a Janus compatible portable audio device.
Section 3. Troubleshooting3.1. I tried to register but got error messages about Shibboleth and Inter-institutional Access System Failure. What's wrong?
Please send us a message using the VUmix feedback form describing your experience.
3.2. I completed my registration and installation successfully, but when I attempt to sign in to Napster, I get an error saying "We couldn't retrieve some of your account information. Please sign in again." Signing in again does not work. What should I do?
Make sure the proxy server is not enabled in Internet Explorer when you are using Napster. If this does not resolve the problem, contact Napster. See the support page for contact information.
3.3. I successfully registered and installed Napster on my PC. However, I can't download songs to my hard drive or listen to any songs longer than the standard 30-second clips. I seem to have only the free version. How do I get the Vanderbilt Service version?
There may be a problem with your registration. Contact Napster for assistance. See the support page for contact information.
3.4. I successfully registered and installed Napster on my PC. However, when I try to sign in, I get an error message saying "Sorry, we are unable to sign you in. Please check your Internet connection and try again." What should I do?
Contact Napster for assistance. See the support page for contact information.
3.5. I tried to register and got an error message, but don't remember what it said. What should I do?
Try again, and see if the error message matches any of the ones mentioned in section 3 of this FAQ. If so, follow the directions in the matching question and answer. If not, try registering again and make a note of the error message. Then send a note to us describing your experience. Make sure to include the error message.
Section 4. Network Concerns4.1. Does the network support streaming?
Streaming is a key feature of the service. Napster plans to install most of its music on a server at Vanderbilt to facilitate streaming. Although there might be some initial delays as the system is fine-tuned, there should be excellent service to all on-campus users as the system is implemented.
4.2. Could the university network systems shut down because of the high demand for music? How will you deal with this?
The registration process linking Vanderbilt's and Napster's computer system has worked flawlessly for the vast majority of students who have used it. The University is taking a number of precautions to minimize the impact so that it does not disrupt normal network service. We do expect network use to be considerably higher early in the semester. However, because of the design of the University's network, it can handle the traffic without problems.
4.3. Are residence hall bandwidth limits greatly affected by this new service?
A special Napster server will run on the local Vanderbilt network. This server will contain 90% of the tracks requested by Napster users. Because most tracks will be available from within the Vanderbilt network, residence hall bandwidth limits should not be affected.
4.4. Can people outside the Vanderbilt network download songs from the Vanderbilt Napster caching server?
The local caching server here at Vanderbilt is accessible only to those on the Vanderbilt network. People who are not part of the Vanderbilt/Napster initiative cannot access the Napster server.
4.5. How can I tell if a song is affecting my residence hall bandwidth limit?
There is currently no way to tell if a specific song is affecting your bandwidth limit.
Section 5. Future Plans5.1. How will the University and the industry deal with students who continue to download music illegally once this new service is in place?
Vanderbilt has set a nationwide example in enforcing copyright laws as it pertains to network computing. Enforcement of these laws and University policy on network usage will continue at least as strongly as it has in the past.
5.2. Will students be able to download movie files in the future?
At present, there are no such plans to offer movie files in the future. As technology evolves, however, Vanderbilt will be closely monitoring its impact on the entertainment industry and the demands of our students.
5.3. How does Vanderbilt plan to obtain student feedback on this pilot program?
Vanderbilt ran a survey of students to determine which aspects of online music were most important to them. As this program reaches thousands more Vanderbilt students, we expect their feedback to help us tailor the service even more.
5.4. Will the IT Fee be increased to cover this service?
No. There will be no increase in the fee as a result of this service. Students can choose to opt-in for a low price of $16 for the entire Academic Year (or join anytime during the year at a pro-rated rate of $2 a month).
5.5. Are alumni eligible?
Alumni are not yet included in this service offering.
5.6. As a Vanderbilt staff member will I be able to use this service to listen to music while I'm at work?
As long as your department or school doesn't have specific rules restricting the use of this service, knock yourself out. Make sure you check with your local support provider before you subscribe or install any software to a Vanderbilt-owned computer.
5.7. When a student leaves the University or the academic year concludes, what happens to their Napster account?
The Napster subscription would remain active until May 31st, at which time it would revert to the "Student Summer" level whereby the student would be able to listen to the tracks that he or she had downloaded during the school year, but would not be able to download or stream new tracks. On August 20th, the subscription would revert to "Napster Light" and the student would no longer have access to the tracks he or she had downloaded.. unless they renew their Napster subscription.
