Ruckus recently signed a partnership agreement with Washington University, which provides 1.5 million music tracks to students. Students can now legally download free music, but Ruckus’ limited transferability of downloads has left some students dissatisfied.
“It’s similar to iTunes in that you can download music and DVDs, but the way it works is once you’ve download the music, you can’t take it off of your computer,” said sophomore Harrison Su rez, speaker for Congress of the South 40. Ruckus uses Windows Media Digital Rights Management, software that keeps music attached to a computer’s hard drive and stops the transfer of specific files to MP3 devices or CDs.
According to Bradley Vaughn, Ruckus’s vice president of campus sales, unless students purchase the actual track they cannot copy it. Students who pay an extra fee, anywhere from $0.79 to $0.99 per song, can transfer or burn Ruckus files to other appliances. iPods are not among the MP3 players listed that allow students to transfer music to an external player, said Vaughn.
Some students have been upset that Ruckus’ songs cannot be played on iPods, but if students wish to play music files for any MP3 device, they will have to purchase the song legally. Students wishing to add more songs to their iPod playlist will have to download the songs directly from iTunes or another iPod friendly source.
All music downloaded from Ruckus, while on the University network, is free. Students will need to renew their songs once a month, and once students exit the University network, they will routinely have to update their different song licenses. Albeit free, that deal sounds inconvenient to some.
“Because you can only listen to the music from your computer and I don’t take my computer with me every where, I probably would not use it,” said senior Ken Law.
But the service is fast approaching CS40’s goal of 3,000 users as Washington University’s profile already lists approximately 2,070 users signed up for the service.
“What I want to make clear is that Wash. U. is not paying for this service. Ruckus generates all of their money through ad revenue and subscriptions,” said Su rez.
Ruckus was chosen among many companies that offer music downloading, showcased last year at the University digital expo.
“We wanted to provide a system to counteract the illegal file sharing that’s been going on,” said Su rez, who served on the resident student advisory board of the CS40 last year.
In addition to music, Ruckus offers 45-50 movies that rotate weekly for a fee of $14.95 per semester. The Web site also features community sites where students can share music with others.
Any Windows operating system can support the Ruckus player. Students can set up the Ruckus player on up to two computers. Faculty and staff can also subscribe to Ruckus but will be billed $5.99 a month. Alumni who choose to use Ruckus will be charged $7.99 a month.
“It’s very exciting,” said Paul Moinester, president of Student Union. “When students come back, they will be able to listen to any type of music. It provides them with a legal alternative to stealing music.”
The site also features, “Student Playlists of the Week,” showcasing music play lists created by students from various universities. Students can review albums and add their comments on the site. In addition, Ruckus tabulates the most played selections by each school and all schools combined. The users can also chat with friends, browse other students’ profiles and post messages, as well as see their most played music and recently played list.
Students can sign up for the free service by going to www.ruckus.com. A university email address is required to verify identity for login.