Ruckus Network, currently based in Herndon, Virginia, is backed by venture capitalists Battery Ventures [2] and Shelter Capital [3]. With its official launch in September of 2004 at Northern Illinois University, Ruckus became the first online music service focused exclusively on the college market.[citation needed]
In January of 2006, Ruckus moved away from its subscription business model in favor of one that was ad-subsidized. This change eliminated the previous monthly fee required for site access and granted users cost-free entry to use the service[4]. By November 2006, Ruckus had officially partnered with 80 colleges and universities and five state-wide network systems, which support over 200 higher education institutions.[citation needed]
On January 22, 2007, Ruckus announced that access to their music library, which was previously available only at schools with contractual agreements, can be accessed by any college student with a valid college (.edu) email account. [5]
Ruckus was co-founded in 2003 by then MBA students, David Galper and Vincent Han, while attending the MIT Sloan School of Management.
