paidContent reports college campus-focused Ruckus is history. The blank home page tells the story: "Unfortunately the Ruckus service will no longer be provided. Thanks." According to the Ruckus Wikipedia page, the message went up yesterday afternoon.

Just a few years ago I used the music service as a grad student at Vanderbilt University. It was free so why not give it a go? DRM wasn't the only problem. Tracks had to be downloaded to be played -- no streaming -- but it wasn't a deal-killer. And the PlaysForSure format restricts portability to devices not terribly popular on campuses (read: no iPods).

No, the main problem was the actual service. It wasn't very good. It looked and felt like it was on too tight a budget. Rhapsody and Napster are far superior, and more recent playlist-oriented streaming sites offer a better experience with more features (better discovery, social networking aspects) and the ability to listen to tracks without clogging up the hard drive with downloads. Better to start with a great product and go from there (as great as you can manage with label-mandated restrictions).

The death of Ruckus is an important step in the natural evolution of online music services. Trial and error allows for future successes. Unfortunately for its investors, the death of Ruckus also underlines the risk in funding services that search for both industry and consumer approval. There are all sorts of great ideas for next-generation services. We see new sites and new models all the time. The majority are, however, painfully short on financial potential.