Qtrax is set to premiere tonight... free music for all?

Quote :

" Music fans around the world faced confusion today as it was announced they would be able to download unlimited, free songs without breaking the law. A revamped online file-sharing service had vowed to offer a catalogue of 30million free songs that are compatible with iPods, but record labels have denied they had granted permission to share the songs. Qtrax, which makes its debut today, is the latest online music venture counting on the lure of free songs to draw in music fans. The key to their revolutionary venture was thought to be advertising, which they hope will pay the bills, namely record company licensing fees. The New York-based service was among several peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that emerged following the shutdown of Napster, the pioneer service that enabled millions to illegally copy songs stored in other computers. But Warner Music said it had not authorised the use of its tracks by Qtrax - and later Universal Music Group and EMI followed suit, saying they did not have licensing deals with Qtrax and discussions were continuing. Justin Kazmark, a spokesman for New York-based Qtrax, has declined to comment. To take advantage of the free but legal service, the user will need to download the Qtrax software which displays adverts while the user is searching and downloading songs. The site was expected to feature special sections including one called "Last Night" where users can search for newly added tracks from live concerts that were recorded the night before. It will also feature music videos, artist documentaries, interviews, album reviews and biographies among other features. Scroll down for more ... qtrax Qtrax, which makes its debut today, is the latest online music venture counting on the lure of free songs to draw in music fans Qtrax is not the first service to offer free songs for download with advertising support. Last September, SpiralFrog launched an ad-supported free service with music from just one of the major record companies Universal Music. It is still in talks with other labels. The latest version of Qtrax still lets users tap into file-sharing networks to search for music, but downloads come with copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM, to prevent users from burning copies to a CD and calculate how to share out advertising sales with labels. Qtrax downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and transferred on to portable music players, however. The service, which boasts a selection of up to 30million tracks, also hopes that its music downloads will be playable on Apple's iPods and Macintosh computers as early as March. iPods only play back unrestricted MP3s files or tracks with Apple's proprietary version of DRM, dubbed FairPlay. Scroll down for more ... CDs CDs sales are falling and file-sharing companies are satisfying the demand for free music online "We've had a technical breakthrough which enables us to put songs on an iPod without any interference from FairPlay," said Allen Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive. Klepfisz declined to give specifics on how Qtrax will make its audio files compatible with Apple devices, but noted that "Apple has nothing to do with it". Qtrax downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and transferred onto portable music players. Apple has been resistant in the past to license FairPlay to other online music retailers. That stance has effectively limited iPod users to loading up their players with tracks purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, or MP3s ripped from CDs or bought from vendors such as eMusic or Amazon.com. Rob Enderle, technology analyst at the San Jose-based Enderle Group, said he expects Apple would take steps to block Qtrax files from working on iPods. It's thought Apple would be unlikely to allow tracks downloaded from its rival to be compatible with its players."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23434386-details/Free+music+downloads+site+in+chaos+as+record+giants+pull+out/article.do

1/28/2008 1:24:17 PM

um...no.

1/28/2008 1:25:49 PM

^RTFA

1/28/2008 1:26:14 PM

um...no.

Quote :

"It's thought Apple would be unlikely to allow tracks downloaded from its rival to be compatible with its players.""

read before you post?

1/28/2008 1:26:51 PM

oh they've pulled out... interested development.

[Edited on January 28, 2008 at 1:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/28/2008 1:26:56 PM

Are they mp3's or what?

1/28/2008 1:27:23 PM

They're still laden with DRM. So.... no.

1/28/2008 1:28:35 PM

Also read this:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23121891-1702,00.html

Basically it's one big lie by Qtrax. None of the major labels agreed to this.

1/28/2008 1:39:54 PM

1/28/2008 1:41:02 PM

Quote :

"um...no."

1/28/2008 1:44:08 PM

^^^

From the AP

Quote :

" CANNES, France - After years of fighting the Wild West of freely downloaded music, the mainstream music industry welcomed a former desperado to their annual schmoozefest Monday, highlighting the difficulty of their search for a solution to plunging CD sales. ADVERTISEMENT And that solution might be: give music away legally and find another way — such as advertising — to make money. Participation was down at the annual MIDEM music business conference at the seaside resort of Cannes, reflecting the failure of digital music sales to make up for crumbling revenues and the billions of dollars being lost to music piracy — illegal downloads outnumber the number of tracks sold by a factor of 20 to 1 according to industry body IFPI. Yet the theater was packed when Janus Friis — co-founder of Kazaa, the music-sharing service once reviled by record levels — addressed participants. Friis, who was presented as an Internet entrepreneur and a grandfather of digital music distribution, gave his backing to the latest venture making a lot of noise at MIDEM: Qtrax, which shows both the interest in making giveaways pay — and the difficult of putting the deals together. A revamped online ad-supported file-sharing service, Qtrax promises to offer unlimited, free music downloads. It was launched amid a blizzard of publicity in Cannes, including champagne, snazzy slogans and invite-only concerts from celebrities including James Blunt and LL Cool J. After lunch with Qtrax CEO Allan Klepfisz on Saturday, Friis said he would have liked to create "an advertising supported service" for Kazaa — if only the record labels had given their blessing. "We were trying to do the same things," he told delegates. "But we couldn't do it. The timing was just like, so off." Yet even as record labels start embracing new technologies — Sony BMG Music Entertainment became the last major music label to start selling music online without copy protection this month — Qtrax showed Cannes the birthing process can be extremely difficult. The website service had not even gone live when Warner Music Group Corp. issued a statement denying Qtrax's claims it had given the service permission to give away its music. Two other major recording companies, Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC, later confirmed they did not have licensing deals in place with Qtrax, noting discussions were still ongoing. A call to Sony BMG Music Entertainment was not immediately returned. Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business and U.S. sales at the label, is quoted by Qtrax as saying "we have completed this agreement with Qtrax." On Sunday, Klepfisz admitted discussions with the labels were not easy. "A colonoscopy is relatively painless in comparison," he told participants. Qtrax, which had claimed it had backing from all the major record labels, is expected to issue a statement later Monday. The New York-based service was among several peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that emerged following the shutdown of Napster, the pioneer service that enabled millions to illegally copy songs stored in other music fans' computers. Qtrax shut down after a few months following its 2002 launch to avoid potential legal trouble. The latest version still lets users tap into file-sharing networks to search for music, but downloads come with copy-protection technology known as digital-rights management, or DRM, to prevent users from burning copies to a CD and calculate how to divvy up advertising sales with labels. Downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and — unlike several competing services — be transferred onto portable music players. The website started offering limited service Monday morning, although users will have to wait until Feb. 29 for portability. An "iPod solution" for Apple Inc's popular player won't be available until April 15, Qtrax said. For an industry that has traditionally relied on paid-for services, advertising was greeted cautiously in Cannes as a replacement for consumers' cash. "I would like anybody to succeed in this area but there are big challenges," said John Kennedy, CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI. "I don't see how Qtrax has resolved the challenge of providing adequate revenues." Steve Purdham CEO of We7, the ad-funded music download service backed by Peter Gabriel, said advertising is catching on — slowly. A year ago at Cannes "I was told there was no way any ad-supported model would work," he said. "The conversations that are going on now are much more open. In the next twelve months, although ad-funded today is economically not really 100 percent viable," it is likely to become "significant" as "an additional model to the industry." While the record labels' battles against internet entrepreneurs like Friis may not have won them consumers, the experience may yet help help stamp out piracy. Scarred by his legal fight with the music industry, which cost Kazaa $115 million, Friis says he has gone straight with his new venture, Joost, which delivers video over the Internet onto PCs under deals with content providers including Viacom, CBS, CNN, the NHL, Sony and others. "When we started Joost we certainly didn't want another, like, five years of World War Four litigation with the entertainment industry so we were kind of had to choose to do it in a very legitimate way which ultimately is going to be the best business." "

1/28/2008 1:52:26 PM

Quote :

"They're still laden with DRM. So.... no."

let's pretend this qtrax thing is legit and actually going to happen:
1.) so what if it's got DRM? you're getting FREE music, legally...well worth (IMO) DRM stipulations
2.) come on...there's not a single successful model for DRM to date, so i seriously doubt this method would be any more workaround-proof than any other...i'd give it a week from launch

1/28/2008 1:52:58 PM

^^if you didn't read it, don't post it. just give us the highlights. that paragraph shit is going to go unread by all.

1/28/2008 1:59:53 PM

^^^ So this is still nothing:

Quote :

"Now Warner Music has issued a statement denying that it authorised any of its content for use on the Qtrax network. EMI and Universal also denied a licensing deal with Qtrax despite being in discussions with the company. Sony could not be reached for comment. "

That's 3 of the 4 networks themselves confirming that they do not support Qtrax. And your quote is a Qtrax quote and not by Sony themselves.

1/28/2008 2:16:44 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=512198

BTW, the title of this thread is incorrect, the apparent deals were made with EMI, BMG, other labels, this is not coming from the RIAA

[Edited on January 28, 2008 at 2:29 PM. Reason : ,]

1/28/2008 2:17:36 PM

1/28/2008 2:51:07 PM