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The music industry has lost two big players this week, as Sony BMG and Universal Music Group’s TotalMusic initiative, and subsequently Ruckus, have been officially shut down.
Ruckus Networks was a digital music services for college students, which was launched back in 2004 at Northern Illinois University, and was owned by TotalMusic. The service grew in popularity, but also drew criticism on its lack of compatibility with Mac or Linux operating systems.
TotalMusic vice president of product management Jason Herskowitz wrote in a blog posting:
And so it goes. And, so do I […] I regret that we didn't get to show you guys more about what we built - but in these extremely hard economic times (particularly for those in the music industry) it's hard to blame them from pulling the plug on a still-highly-speculative offering .
While still wondering about the recipe of success for such a service, Herskowitz said he had the privilege of working with great people, and explained that small services such as these lack the resources or desire to deal with licensing content directly.
He further wrote:
I only hope that someone else figures out how to crack this music-on-the-web nut in a way that is a win for everyone in the value chain […]Hell, there are very few private investors or venture capitalists that want to get anywhere near this space right now... and rightfully so considering no one has really figured out how to make any money out of this industry (and its products) that so many people love.
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