As seen in the Washington Square News.
Imagine being able to stream high-quality music to your computer on demand, without guaranteeing yourself a lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America.
NYU is one of the first colleges in the nation to host DRAM, the Database of Recorded American Music, a valuable, though little-known, resource for NYU students who need access to music files they would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
DRAM is a digital, online resource for students, faculty and scholars that allows users to stream – that is, to listen to without downloading – rare American music. DRAM’s true value is in its wide selection, which includes genres like folk, jazz, early rock, R&B, opera, classical and country. Even songs from major musical theater productions are offered.
“DRAM offers [students] the opportunity to listen to important, rare and, in some cases unavailable, American music,” said Arthur Moorhead, a producer for New World Records, a Buffalo-based company that contributes significantly to the database. “With DRAM, the student could log on and listen to half a dozen different, complete albums, peruse the liner notes, discographies, bibliographies, artist profiles, et cetera.”
The database is updated constantly, often with music that has not been reissued on compact disc. Selections range from the atypical – American Indian powwow field recordings, for example – and are varied enough to include early electronic music projects.
The database also features modern music legends like deceased composer Harry Partch, who designed more than 27 instruments in his lifetime, beat-savvy DJ Spooky, who made the turntable a pivotal aspect of hip-hop, and genre-melding music legend Frank Zappa.
Another notable addition includes selections from New World’s original bicentennial collection, a collection of 100 LPs documenting the history of America through music.
It is DRAM’s goal to include the widest spectrum of American music possible, Moorhead said.
“We are adding content all the time,” Moorhead said. “We will also shortly be adding downloads as a feature, and eventually, individuals will be able to subscribe.”
The database, which is funded by two grant-honoring institutions, the Robert Sterling Clark and the Andrew W. Mellon foundations, pays industry standard royalties for all music files.
Though Indiana University and Dartmouth University already offer their own DRAM sites, and Columbia University will join their ranks, several thousand schools, both colleges and high schools, are expected to subscribe to the database as well. But until those schools enroll, making students aware of the database’s availability remains a tough hurdle for DRAM.
“Students are slowly finding out about it through on-campus posters, fliers and focus groups,” Moorhead said. “It’s going to take a while for music and American studies professors to start assigning it for course work.”
Despite the increase in advertising for DRAM, students remain unaware of the database’s existence.
“Well, I’ve heard it mentioned but I have absolutely no idea what it’s all about,” Steinhardt freshman Robyn Savitsky said. “Over lunch a few weeks ago a friend of mine referred to it, but he didn’t seem to know any details.”
Even in the Tisch School of the Arts, where students are typically abreast of the latest developments in arts technology, few students know of the resource.
“I definitely haven’t heard of it,” said Tom Schecter, a Tisch sophomore in the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. “Is it all classical music?” €¢
NYU students can access the database, either from campus or a remote location, at http://dram.nyu.edu