Baylor cracks down on online Sing videos, DVD sales

Stephen Green | Round Up Photo Editor
Sing Alliance performs its act “Hip Hip Hooray!” at All-University Sing. The group was chosen to perform at Pigskin Revue.

By Molly Packer
Reporter

Keeping at the top of the competition just got a little harder for participants in All-University Sing.

Members of Greek student life received an e-mail from Keith Frazee, coordinator of Student Productions, on Feb. 18 stating that all videos of Sing acts needed to be taken down from all online accounts by 6 p.m. that evening at the risk of being penalized with point reductions. The new requirement came as a mandate from Baylor, and it also stated that Sing chairs will be held responsible if their organization’s act appears online before the end of the competition.

“I understand why,” said Brian Jones, a junior from Albuquerque, N.M., and Sing chair for Delta Tau Delta. “I have some friends who would just watch the act on their computers instead of attending the show. They need to make a profit.”

Jones worked with the members of Alpha Delta Pi to produce an entertaining act for the competition. While the new restrictions make his job as a Sing chair a little more difficult, Jones said he understands.

“Baylor has the right to make the rule,” Jones said. “It’s their production.”

Along with restricting groups’ abilities to post videos online, students not performing in Sing can no longer buy a DVD of the performance.

McKinney junior Rebecca Eddy, a Sing chair for Alpha Delta Pi, said she thinks not selling DVDs will be a bigger problem for alumni.

“It’ll be harder to keep up because you won’t be able to purchase the DVDs,” Eddy said. “And if I live outside of Texas, it’ll be hard to come back and see Sing or even show my children what Sing is.”

Eddy said she believes the reason for not selling DVDs has to do with copyright issues for the songs the acts use.

Baylor’s Sing website states, “We are working diligently to make DVDs available to the general public in the coming months.”

At the moment, however, only performers are allowed to buy a single DVD of the performance through their participating organization.

Frazee said he had no comment on the new policies.