Ruckus Network
Encyclopedia
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
available to students at all American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s.
The service was founded in 2003 by Vincent Han and David Galper; raised $41.5M from Battery Ventures, Shelter Capital, and others; was acquired in 2008 by Total Music, a joint venture between Sony and Universal; and was closed on February 6, 2009 when Ruckus' website was replaced with a graphic saying, "Unfortunately the Ruckus service will no longer be provided. Thanks."
History
Ruckus Network, which was based in Herndon, VirginiaHerndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
, was backed by venture capitalists Battery Ventures
Battery Ventures
Battery Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests principally in technology markets including: Internet & Digital Media; Financial & Information Services; Cleantech; Software; Semiconductors & Components; Infrastructure Technologies; Communication Services; and Industrial Technologies.The...
and Shelter Capital. With its official launch in September 2004 at Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
, Ruckus became the first online music service
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
focused exclusively on the college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
market.
In January 2006, Ruckus moved away from its subscription business model in favor of one that was ad-subsidized. This change eliminated the previous monthly fee required for site access and granted users cost-free entry to use the service. By November 2006, Ruckus had officially partnered with 80 colleges and universities and five state-wide network systems, which support over 200 higher education institutions.
On January 22, 2007, Ruckus announced that access to their music library, which was previously available only at schools with contractual agreements, can be accessed by any college student with a valid college (.edu
.edu
The domain name edu is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The "domain is intended for accredited post-secondary educational U.S. institutions" and this intention is strictly enforced....
) email account.
As of January 2008, the website stated that 1 million additional members would be required to keep the site open and then spread this message through various online communication portals. This development was apparently an effort by Ruckus to gain the help of members before more serious efforts would need to be set in place. As of early December 2008, Ruckus had developed exclusive partnerships with 215 schools with users from over 1000 schools nationwide.
Ruckus had not updated its library since late December 2008; it did however advertise an upcoming site makeover. On February 6, 2009, at approximately 3:58 pm the Ruckus webpage shut down "for periodic maintenance". At approximately 4:02 pm central standard time, visitors to the website saw a graphic stating "Unfortunately, the Ruckus service will no longer be provided. Thanks". The Ruckus Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
application also shows a message saying that "Ruckus had to shut down the party due to over crowdedness. Please rock out to some music and we’ll get the party going again shortly." This led some to believe that the Ruckus service may eventually resume operation. However, since then that Facebook account has been closed.
As of October 27, 2009, the Ruckus Website reads "Sorry! This site is not currently available."
The domain name expired on December 1, 2009, and is now pending deletion from the internet. Nearly a year since its removal, no announcement has been made regarding restoration of the popular music server. Ruckus is, by all accounts, permanently dead.
Features and restrictions
- Pricing: Free to all students with a valid .edu email address. $8.99/month for alumni and college facultyFaculty (university)A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
. - Platform(s): Windows 2000Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, and Windows VistaWindows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
only. - Downloading: Yes.
- Burning/Copying: No.
- Streaming: Streaming video content on Ruckus TV. No streaming music content.
- Format: Protected Windows Media AudioWindows Media AudioWindows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs...
(WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) format. - Digital restrictionsDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
: No burning to compact discs. Limited player support. Files contain embedded licenses that must be renewed periodically. - Preview: None.
- Trial: None.
- Catalog: Over 3 million files.
- Features: Adding "friends", friend-to-friend music recommendations, user messaging, music search function, streaming video content from Ruckus TV and a television/film library.
- Global availability: Ruckus is only available to college undergraduates, alumni and faculty located in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - Customer Support: Website only.
Criticism
Ruckus has faced criticism on several points:- Ruckus works only with Microsoft PlaysForSureMicrosoft PlaysForSureStarting in 2004, Microsoft PlaysForSure was a certification given by Microsoft to portable devices and content services that had been tested against several hundred compatibility and performance requirements. These requirements include codec support, DRM support, UI responsiveness, device...
, a program with an uncertain long-term future following the release of Microsoft's new flagship ZuneZuneZune is a digital media brand owned by Microsoft which includes a line of portable media players, a digital media player software for Windows machines, a music subscription service known as a 'Zune Music Pass', music and video streaming for the Xbox 360 via the Zune Software, music, TV and movie...
format, which is incompatible with other portable devices. - The service is not compatible with Apple MacintoshMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
or LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating systems. - The Ruckus library of 3 million songs, while substantial, is smaller than the industry-leading iTunes StoreITunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
(with more than 6 million songs). - Inconsistent naming convention for files (some file names are entirely capitalized, others include underscores rather than spaces).
- Inconsistent storage of track number (some files lack a track number property in the wma info tab)
- Inconsistent labeling of explicit and clean albums: Some explicit albums have the parental advisory icon next to their listing, while others only have the icon in the lower right corner of the album cover art. Additionally, some clean tracks (and even tracks without lyrics) are incorrectly marked as "explicit".
- Some albums may be incomplete - certain album tracks may be unavailable due to cross-listings on the service.
- Inconsistent availability of explicit and clean albums; some albums have both types available, others only have one type available.
- Questionable marketing practices (see section on "Brody Ruckus").
"Brody Ruckus" incident
In September 2006, Ruckus attempted to create the single largest group on FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
as a promotional tool. An employee started a fictional student account under the name "Brody Ruckus." The group created under the name "If this group reaches 100,000 my girlfriend will have a threesome" drew membership on the claim that if 100,000 people joined, the fictional character's girlfriend "Holly" (based on a real-life friend of the employee) would have a threesome
Threesome
A threesome is a group of three engaged in the same activity. In relation to a sexual activity a threesome refer to the activity involving three people of any gender or sexual orientation...
with "Ruckus" and another woman. Within a week, the group had reached 100,000 members. "Brody Ruckus" then promised to post pictures of his sexual encounter online if 300,000 people joined. Within seven days, the group membership had exceeded 400,000 and "Ruckus" wrote that if the group became the largest on Facebook, he would post a video of his threesome. Facebook administrators deleted the "Brody Ruckus" profile and his group, since it represented a breach in the site's Terms of Service agreement, specifically with reference to: "impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity."
In an interview with the online newspaper eSchool News, Ruckus President Mike Bebel said that the Brody Ruckus affair "was an exercise conducted by one of our marketing teams. It wasn't something we had any real designs around. It took on a life of its own. It was a good learning exercise for us, but not something that we would repeat."
In a letter to the editor of Student Life the student newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, Bebel stated that "contrary to what has been reported in other media outlets ... Ruckus did not use this [Brody Ruckus] profile to market the Ruckus service." He also acknowledged that "the creation of the Brody Ruckus profile was ill-advised and I can promise that this tactic will not be repeated."
External links
- Ruckus offers Students Free Music - Forbes. Retrieved on 2007-01-22
- Big Labels Offer Free Music to College Students - New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-01-22
- Penn State drops Napster for Ruckus - USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-05-07