You know what your mother always used to say about things that seem too good to be true, but the deafening amount of hype and hyperbole being thrown about in reference to the "game changing" Qtrax with "25 million tracks" is quite distracting enough to take note of. According to the Qtrax website, the P2P client -- Windows only, a Mac version is slated for March 18th -- will be available at midnight EST, but while Qtrax is confident of its supposed deals with the majors, a few of those labels claim to be short of an actual deal with Qtrax. The business model is simple enough: DRM'd tracks count the number of times they're played and then report back to the mother ship -- which will divvy up revenue based on ad sales. It sounds like there's PlaysForSure under the hood, and Qtrax claims it'll have an iPod-friendly version ready before too long, but there's a disturbing lack of detail on the official site. There is $30 million of VC funding behind the venture, so they clearly expect some results, but $30 million and high hopes certainly is no guarantee of label support of a crazy -- and perhaps entirely overdue -- scheme like this. We'll be certainly watching for what happens at midnight.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Qtrax
Read - Times Online (It's a go)
Read - NEWS.com.au (Labels back away)
Read - ZDNet UK (Rupert Goodwins weighs in)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
retro77 @ Jan 28th 2008 10:40AM
Lawsuits should be coming any minute!
Joseph @ Jan 28th 2008 1:25PM
not sure how this service works, but i was thinking.
Music should be free for the consumers, but the ads we view/visit/listento while listening to the music should be split with the artists.
the idea is like how a radio station works. Except better quality and we get to choose the songs. Also, there is no DJ/programming overhead.
It should be enough that we like/play a song, we shouldnt have to pay too. Big Business should offset that cost.
This means, make a good song, make more money. Make a crappy song, make no money.
Charles @ Jan 28th 2008 2:14PM
“Music should be free for the consumers.....It should be enough that we like/play a song, we shouldnt have to pay too. Big Business should offset that cost.”
Exactly why do you think you should be entitled to receive other people's work for free? Why do you think “Big Bussiness” should pay to entertain you? It's like saying “Ferraris should be free to the consumers. It should be enough that we like/drive the car. Big business should offset the costs.” Clearly you wouldn't expect Ferrari to give their product away for free so why do you think the Music industry should?
retro77 @ Jan 28th 2008 4:55PM
From CNN:
"A revamped online file-sharing service that promised to offer unlimited, free music downloads from all the major record labels hit an apparent snag Sunday after one denied it had given the service permission."
mushrooshi @ Jan 28th 2008 11:59PM
DAFT PUNK
Flashpoint @ Jan 28th 2008 10:42AM
The RIAA will sue you !
heffeque @ Jan 28th 2008 12:09PM
Good thing for some people that don't live in the States is that P2P sharing is legal so there's no need of fearing the RIAA or their friends :-)
Jeff @ Jan 28th 2008 10:45AM
Warner and Universal have both already denied that they have anything to do with this, at least as of now.
In addition, there's no practical way that a DRM'd music track using something other than FairPlay could ever work on an iPod, so that's out the window too.
This is either vapor, or it's DOA.
But they sure have gotten the press to drink the kool-aid today.
Pedro @ Jan 28th 2008 4:26PM
This guy is a scam artist. Business dealmaking 101 is that you NEVER announce ANYTHING until you have an inked contract in hand. There is no way that any label would let someone they were making a deal with state "we have agreed on terms, and something is happening soon". He's either being taken for a ride or he's taking everyone else for a ride.
OneLove @ Jan 28th 2008 10:47AM
They will have a huge release party, blow the money on models and then tank.
OneLove @ Jan 28th 2008 11:14AM
Just what I need another program that requires communication with the "mother ship".
tim @ Jan 28th 2008 10:54AM
Turns out they don't have deals with *any* of the major record labels:
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/01/sonybmg-we-dont-have-a-qtrax-deal-either.html
Joe Anstine @ Jan 28th 2008 11:22AM
way too good to be true.
Richard @ Jan 28th 2008 11:25AM
So if I put my favorite bands album on repeat then that will guarantee them a buttload of money - am i rite????
emailtabs @ Jan 28th 2008 11:29AM
Yup, but they say they have reached "Verbal" agreements with all the big players.
Just have nothing on "Paper" yet.
Why not wait until you actually have a service that can be used before you shoot out that fancy press release?
One can only hope this pans out propperly.. i know its gonna be drmd up the nines but what the hell for free music. (read "Not other p2p methodologies" *ahem*)
Graphedit.. wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more.
emailtabs @ Jan 28th 2008 11:30AM
Like it.. cunning plan sir
emailtabs @ Jan 28th 2008 11:31AM
Like it.. cunning plan sir!
Joseph @ Jan 28th 2008 1:27PM
3 posts in a row? thats annoying.
emailtabs @ Jan 28th 2008 2:21PM
I know! i feel like a f*kin Tard!
riggs @ Jan 28th 2008 11:46AM
ITS A TRAP!
Tim Brown @ Jan 28th 2008 11:58AM
I'm sure the final contract will go along the lines of "Stop, we cant have you changing our monolithic industry practices for this brilliant idea. We need to protect our lawyers/execs.... sorry artists money and as such we demand you hand all your money over now and give us the names of every one who signed up so we can make sure we/sorry our artists get all their money"
Mike @ Jan 28th 2008 11:59AM
I like Alltunes.
Joshua Walters @ Jan 28th 2008 12:03PM
This wont happen -- At least not with all thats been promised.
The iPod WILL NOT work with PlaysForSure. That is the only DRM that they could have gotten a license for.
The iPod wont work with anything they create either, so thats out of the question as well.
Now, the only way they could get it on the iPod is DRM free or with Apples DRM client (which wont happen).
We know that neither are possible.
That eliminates iPod support.
Now, I have yet to hear any conformation from studios on board.
My hunch is that they have TALKED to all major labels, but are awaiting to hear from them.
I cant believe that they would make enough from advertising to pay the RIAA and studios, let alone turn a profit.
Advertising doesnt really pay all that well these days.
Look at it, it would probably cost them 50-100 impressions to cover the $0.99 that one song normally costs.
One person is not going to give them that many. Heck, even if it only cost $0.50 a song, it still wold require 15+ impressions, and ONE person probably wont even give them that!
Richard @ Jan 28th 2008 12:03PM
If the RIAA thinks copying the cd you bought to your computer is wrong, they are bound to find something lawsuit-worthy in this.
With that said, I'd be really interested if they offered music videos as well. The offerings on Zune Marketplace are rather slim.
tb @ Jan 28th 2008 12:18PM
sadly they won't accept independant artists submissions, i really wanted to be part of it :(
http://muzik4machines.com/muzik/indexfree.php a lot of songs, some even listenable by humans, not jsut machines
charles @ Jan 28th 2008 12:34PM
the beta download has been "available at midnight" for many midnights now. still no download available
anonymous @ Jan 28th 2008 12:51PM
And their site is still AGONIZINGLY slow.
madgamer @ Jan 28th 2008 12:57PM
If you are a college student you can use ruckus.com which is similar to this but fully legal. You can download all the DRM'd (wma) music you want for free from most of the major labels. I use it and it's pretty nice.
Nick T @ Jan 28th 2008 1:59PM
hmm. have a look at the source code. all ajaxy and possible pre-registration stuff in there ;)
Nick
mattbates @ Jan 28th 2008 3:06PM
My favorite is using Audacity to copy any DRM'd music, thereby getting rid of said DRM and now I've got a free, uninhibited piece of music.
m @ Jan 28th 2008 3:51PM
drm AND advertisements? sign me up!!!!!
T @ Jan 28th 2008 6:05PM
QTrax? Seriosuly? 30mil and they can't come up with a better name than a Q and tracks with a X.
Brian @ Jan 28th 2008 8:40PM
No deals with record companies...
http://www.reuters.com/article/ADVERT/idUSN2848657520080128
Christopher @ Jan 28th 2008 9:12PM
Qtrax have been (quite literally) spamming Midem with their 'viral' (read: crap) ads for their service... And to be honest, I don't think it looks that great, either.
The Prefueled "Fuel Pumps" (browsable kiosks with media card interfaces and wifi hotspots to connect your machine to access the web sites on your own device) look really quite similar in UI design, but they're a really nice smooth experience (although they still offer DRMed content, a big no no with me).
If Spiralfrog is STILL struggling to reach critical mass in both usership and reputation, and they've been going for ages now, what makes anybody think that this ocmpany's any different?
cenobyt @ Jan 28th 2008 10:47PM
The download is working. Hey, it's not midnight yet! It's simply a skinned (feathered) version of Songbird. The opening web page is from Oracle and it does nothing currently then what Songbird already does. No place to sign up. nothing. This is stupid. Download Songbird instead. When they fix it then try it.
tobin92 @ Jan 29th 2008 12:28AM
This "phoning home" idea is not cool.....I'll stick to LastFM for my legal free music
BTW. How about the people of the United States just disband the RIAA.....Not only is it a monopoly...but they are lobbyists.