SpiralFrog shuts down in face of debts

Ad-supported music download service SpiralFrog appears to have closed its doors – its website is down, and CNET is reporting that the company has ceased operations and surrendered its assets to creditors.In truth, it's not a surprise – there have been persistent rumours in recent weeks that the company was on the verge of shutting down in the face of flatlining traffic, the plummeting ad market, and debts that were due to be repaid imminently.It's more bad news for the idea of ad-supported music downloads, though. When SpiralFrog first launched, they were hailed as the next big thing, particularly if they tempted consumers away from online music piracy. However, SpiralFrog and Ruckus have both shut down this year, while Qtrax remains an enigma, even if it does now have the major label deals it famously didn't have when it launched last year.