In 2006 faculty of the Conservatory of Music wrote and published their own textbook for Core Curriculum 1.3 (CC 1.3), Music: Its Language, History, and Culture. Published by Kendall-Hunt, the reader was bundled with a subscription to the Rhapsody music streaming service. The reader and music service were to give a skeletal structure for all instructors of CC 1.3 for the development of course content focusing on the individual musical strengths and interests of each instructor. We also wanted to keep the costs to students as low as possible by not taking any royalties. The result was a book and music service priced in the $60 range when a brief edition of a standard music appreciation text with CDs was priced around $140.

In 2014 our contract with Kendall-Hunt was fulfilled and in the spirit of our original concept we decided to make the reader, now used for Music 1300, available as a free PDF book under Creative Commons share and share alike licensing. This, along with the use of free (advertising supported) streaming music services, like Spotify, allows us to offer primary course materials to our students in Music 1300 at no cost to them. An interactive online version is available.