Walking through the hallways of any dorm, you're bound to hear the soundtrack of college life pounding away. However, peek in to some of these rooms, and you may not even spot a stereo. Nowadays, computers and the MP3 sound file are providing the tunes.
The MP3 craze that has swept college campuses across the country has undoubtedly landed at Tufts. Barely a dorm room remains on campus where one cannot find a computer complete with freshly downloaded MP3s or playlists derived from Napster. Such avid enthusiasm for downloadable music, combined with the new trend of CD burners, may mean bad news for record companies, artists, and record stores, whose salaries depend on record sales.
Despite the increased prevalence of CD burners among the Tufts population, many students remain confident that this recent trend will not greatly effect CD sales, since they have not thus far.
"I personally feel like people aren't going to stop buying CDs," sophomore Christina Coronios said. "Most people are probably just going to use Napster and CD burners to make mixes."
Many other CD burner users, such as sophomore Lisa Dobey, express similar sentiments on the issue. "I still go out and buy normal CDs," Dobey said. "To me, there's something to be said for a CD cover and the accompanying song lyrics."
For some students, being able to download one track often leads them to buy that artist's album. Coronios, for example, downloaded four songs from the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album at her friend's suggestion. "Had I not had the chance to download the songs and see if I enjoyed them," Coronios stressed, "I probably never would have had the motivation to buy the album."
Local record stores express growing concern over a decrease in their business, however, due to easy access to MP3s. Robert Hall, the owner of Davis Square's Disc Diggers, harbors doubts that services such as Napster cause listeners to get excited about music and then go out and buy more CDs.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Napster is hurting our business," Hall stated. "Contrary to their claims, Napster definitely diminishes record sales - especially in areas surrounding colleges, where students have fast and easy Internet access."
However, Hall is less concerned about the threat of CD burners. "CD burners bother me a lot less," Hall said. "They haven't made much of a bigger difference in sales than recording tapes did."
The prospect of CD burners seems vastly less threatening, without adding the element of Napster's ability to distribute music to thousands of people simultaneously. "The fact that one can now burn CDs in their own home is not so bothersome. The record stores' and companies' real hang-up is that Napster has the ability to distribute songs to so many people at the same time," Hall said.
Although many students deny that their MP3 downloads and CD burners will substantially decrease record sales, some disagree with this optimistic outlook. "Why buy normal CDs when you can make your own?" sophomore Aric Chan asked.
Other students bought CD burners to avoid having to pay for CDs at the record store. People frequently download songs, as well as borrow their friends' albums to burn, and find no need to spend money on CDs.
The use of Napster and CD burners has prompted students such as freshman Kevin Keating to agree that "[the record companies and stores] definitely have something to worry about in terms of album sales."
Despite such negative evaluations of Napster's effects on record sales, some local bands and groups continue their support of the MP3 provider. Sophomore Ed Boyer, a member of the Beelzebubs, is "all for pirating files and sharing them." When it comes to his group's music, he remains in support of Napster. The group usually has several songs available on the MP3 provider, a prospect to which Boyer is not opposed.
"Sure we want to sell CDs," Boyer said, "but our main goal is just to have people listen to our music."
