Believe it or not, once upon a time, free music downloading was once as big a part of college life as beer pong, but with slightly less fear of the cops busting down your door. For many students, the extreme speed of the college Internet connection opened new realms of downloading possibilities previously unknown through their parents’ lower-level connections or (gasp) even dial-up access.
Although few current college students will really remember Napster at its height, there was once a time when downloading MP3s didn’t have to be a covert operation, and along with a world-class education, students also left college with a world-class music collection. And while new pay-as-you-download services have cropped up in the meantime, they certainly can’t parallel the pure, unbridled joy of the free-for-all that was Napster. As a poor college student, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford $1 for each of the thousands of songs I rabidly downloaded over the four years I spent in college.
And then, in steps Ruckus.com, which is a completely legal and advertising supported music service geared exclusively to the college community. All students with a valid school email address (.edu) have free unlimited access to the entire Ruckus music library.
Besides the more than 3.2 million free, high fidelity, licensed tracks of music, Ruckus also offers movies, TV shows, and music videos, as well as social networking features that allow students with similar interests to connect with others on campuses across the country.
In addition to subscribers at more than 1000 schools nationwide, Ruckus also has exclusive partnerships with 186 schools. These schools have the additional benefits of exclusive content, faster download speeds, and decreased bandwidth usage by having a local, on-campus media server on the schools’ network. To see if your school is on the list, visit www.ruckusnetwork.com/affiliated.php.
Photo courtesy of: http://www.dvdreplication.co.nz/images/dvdsecurity.jpg
November 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hi, I was wondering why Eastern Connecticut State University was not apart of the affiliated schools. Is there a special requirement or does have to do with the college’s ’savings’?