the digital haze.

a quick trip to www.ruckus.com swiftly kicks you in the face with this little gem.

ruckus was a music service intended for college students which allowed you to access over 3 million songs legally and for free. the catch? you couldn't load them to any portable music player.

the main reason i'm bringing this up is that last friday, ruckus network, inc. shut down the service without warning to anyone, including the university. the diamondback recently published an article about the closing, which is where i heard about this.

the article highlighted that many students either weren't aware of the service or felt that the inability to transfer music made it an inconvenient way to listen. personally, i had forgotten about it; the university advertised it, but with the rise of sites like www.playlist.com, it hardly seemed worth the effort of registration and all that hooplah.

to get to my main point, music sharing sites continue to gain popularity and continue to face hurdles. i remember way back in the day when napster began its steep rise to fame and subsequent plummet into obscurity once legalities were thrown in the mix. i'm a big advocate of legal sharing and downloading of music. i completely understand that we're poor college students and music is just too dang expensive. but at the same time, i have far too many musician friends who rely on music sales in order to continue being able to do so.

i'm not sure what the next phase of music sharing will be, but at present file sharing and streaming sites seem to be a big source of joy (for those who seek free access to new and underground music) and frustration (for those who rely on its sales, as well as the riaa).