The Continuing Fight for Life, Liberty and Free Music for College Students

When it comes to downloading music, students and the government don’t always agree. That’s why Texas Tech has teamed up with Ruckus Network to offer an alternative method for legally getting students the music they want.

Ruckus offers more than 2.5 million song tracks free to students currently enrolled at Texas Tech. By creating a student account on the Ruckus Web site, students can download the Ruckus player and easily upload song tracks or entire albums to enjoy on their computers. These tracks and albums can not be transferred to a portable mp3 player or burned onto a CD without updating to the premium account and paying a monthly fee.

Ryan Worley, president of SGA, says an agreement with Ruckus is a step in the right direction.

Ryan Worley, president of the Student Government Association, says that Ruckus was the best and most economical program they could find for students.

“Of the programs available, Ruckus offers the most value for students without charging more for additional services,” Worley says. “It’s important to offer some alternative to illegally downloading music on campus. Especially with our network, if you download music illegally on campus, it is very easy to trace back to you.”

Texas Tech’s Information Technology department first brought the idea to Student Affairs’ attention a little over a year ago. They wanted to set up an agreement with a music provider to give students another option when searching for music. A committee discussed the options available and decided that Ruckus offered the best deal.

Worley says the agreement is definitely a good first step towards protecting students on campus while giving them options for getting the music they crave. Other Ruckus services available on the student account include creating playlists to share with friends, browsing other Ruckus users and sending messages to friends across the Ruckus network. The downloaded tracks and albums can be played from any computer that has a Ruckus player.

“We would like to keep looking for other sites allowing direct transfers of the songs, Worley says. “We would like to perhaps make iTunes available for students eventually, but we don’t want to add more fees or make them pay more. It’s just not economical right now.”

Worley says he knows music plays a huge role in the lives of college students. He will continue to look for ways to get music to students at Texas Tech legally and easily.

“Music is a huge influence, especially nowadays in this iPod world,” Worley says. “It’s a way to get away from the world, to relax, even to help some students focus. This is step towards getting that music for students to enjoy.”