Thanks to the outgrowth of technology that supports the downloading of music and other media, Tufts musicians and filmmakers now have a new venue to showcase their creativity.
As part of a 2004-2005 trial contract with Colorado-based Cdigix, Tufts University provides students with a free online platform to post and share music and films created by members of the Tufts community. This platform, called Cvillage, has been available since last November.
The result of this contract is a free, dual-purpose service including Ctrax, which provides a venue for commercial music downloading, and Cvillage, where students can post their own original recordings and films to be shared with the Tufts community and over twenty other network universities. Cdigix, owned by Sea Blue Media, markets Cvillage as, "a medium for an exchange of ideas and content" that allows users to create a "local flavor."
Cvillage generates that local flavor by operating through one or two paid Campus Managers who are students at the university they represent. The Campus Managers oversee content posting on their university's Cvillage site and act as a liaison between Cdigix and the campus community.
Sophomore Allison Osborn has taken on the cause of Cvillage and Ctrax as the Tufts Campus Manager. Osborn's job is to market the services to the Tufts campus and take care of technical concerns regarding the usage of Cdigix on students' computers until another Campus Manager position is filled.
In conjunction with Cdigix's national coordinator for campus managers, Osborn has been working since last November to create a marketing campaign specifically tailored to the Tufts community. While she describes the start of Cdigix at Tufts as "a little slow," She believes that unusually low usage among Tufts students is the result of an ill-timed launch and a lack of student awareness of the service.
"Cdigix is a great service. There is no reason for any Tufts student not to use it, especially because it is free and legal," Osborn said.
Describing herself as a "music junkie," Osborn said, "Music is my biggest passion." She guessed that she owns over 500 CDs, a collection that dates back to her childhood. A clinical psychology major with an English minor, Osborn has never imagined herself in a career relating to music. However, since her involvement with Cdigix, she said that she could perhaps see a career in some sort of music industry. "I'm loving this job," Osborn said, despite her self-professed lack of marketing experience.
The value of Cvillage, according to Osborn, lies in its ability to allow artists to share with their own communities as well as with other university communities. "The music community at Tufts has pretty much stayed within its own boundaries. I'd like to see this expand to the general Tufts population," said Osborn.
While only one Tufts artist has posted material on the Tufts Cvillage website, Osborn hopes that the upcoming marketing campaign will bring new musicians and filmmakers to Cvillage. She has been in contact with some Tufts musicians, but she says that giving artists a place to display their work is only the beginning of Cvillage's potential.
"I think that Cvillage can help spread the music that Tufts students are creating, and foster a sense of unity not only among the musicians, but for those who want to appreciate the music as well," Osborn said.
Most amateur musicians and filmmakers appreciate any low-cost arena where they can showcase their material. Sophomore Matt Raifman, who has recorded some of his own original music, said, "I would post; I can't imagine many artists that wouldn't want to post their music. Most musicians are primarily concerned with getting their music out there, distributed and heard."
As for potential audiences of music or films on the Cvillage platform, most students agree that, especially given the free cost of the site, they would at least visit the site. Sophomore Libby Park said, "I am always interested in exploring how creativity is presenting itself, especially in forms of art. I would check out the Web site."
