Qtrax announces deals with EMI and Sony / ATV, still can't distribute content

Man, Qtrax just can't stop over-hyping and under-delivering, can it? The company's trumpeting new deals today with EMI Publishing, Sony / ATV Music Publishing, and TVT Records, but of the three deals, only TVT will actually have music available for download. The deals with EMI and Sony / ATV are for publishing rights only, and since publishing companies only represent songwriters, and don't actually own the rights to the song recordings, Qtrax still can't offer songs to consumers. It's confusing, but Qtrax needs both types of deals to make things work. Still, considering that the EMI and Sony agreements are extensions of existing agreements, it's a little strange for Qtrax to hype them up -- if you're keeping score at home, this is essentially the same sort of half-truth Qtrax launched under, so it's pretty ballsy of the company to try and pull it again. On the other hand, getting TVT on board is no small feat -- TVT artists include Lil Jon, Ambulance LTD, Dude 'N Em, The Polyphonic Spree, and The Cinematics, so it looks like Qtrax might be getting better at this whole "signing actual deals with labels" thing.

Update: We had said in an earlier version of this post that several major labels had denied having deals in place with Qtrax -- while that's still true, the information was a few weeks old. The deals announced today are for real, but until Qtrax sorts out actual content-distribution rights, nothing's really changed.

[Via Tech Digest]

[BowserUSC @ Mar 4th 2008 5:38PM]

ah ha ha

[Backlin @ Mar 4th 2008 5:38PM]

So it's still vaporware? I think Duke Nukem Forever has some new competition.

[r3loaded @ Mar 4th 2008 6:21PM]

These guys will be the first in the world to release GnR's Chinese Democracy!! :P

[The Dude @ Mar 4th 2008 6:25PM]

Don't forget Starcraft Ghost.

[usedHONDA @ Mar 4th 2008 5:42PM]

For all who are curious about that web browser: It's Songbird, Mozilla's take on iTunes. Completely free, still in development, uses an mp3 search engine to find songs for free. Oh, and it's open source.

[BatteryAcid @ Mar 5th 2008 4:17PM]

Dead on. I higyly recomemend it. It's real easy to use, fairly stable, and it has some good extensions (Mashtape, Now playing, Album applet) and skins.

[joke @ Mar 4th 2008 5:50PM]

give me a break. are you serious with this research? First of all, Qtrax DID NOT make those announcements- THE RECORD COMPANIES DID. Read below- these are from THE RECORD COMPANIES- Qtrax did not announce any of this.

The Sony/ATV deal represents a renewed commitment from the publisher. Martin Bandier, chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV, said:

We enthusiastically support Qtrax as an innovative method for reclaiming rights and revenues from music misappropriated by worldwide P2P networks, while at the same time providing users with a superior legal and free net-based music experience. This agreement expands upon our original agreement with Qtrax and represents another example of Sony/ATV's commitment to securing our songwriters' rights in the digital space.

Likewise, the EMI deal is an extension of a previous deal, according to EMI Music Publishing chairman and CEO Roger Faxon:

EMI Music Publishing came on board with QTrax very early because we believed that this concept could provide real value to our songwriters. As such we are extraordinarily pleased that it has come to fruition and that is now going to become a reality.

The entire music industry has had to change with the times and the behavior of the listening public. We at EMI Music Publishing are committed to making sure that our songwriters benefit from their creative output, and that fans have the opportunity to access digital music legally in as many ways as possible.

Let's see what you write next week when we hear more good news. Stop hatin'

[Joseph @ Mar 4th 2008 6:02PM]

Press Release Source: QTRAX

[Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Mar 4th 2008 6:27PM]

I have no idea what you just said because I didn't read it. I'm still ranking you low though.

[Anon E. Muss @ Mar 4th 2008 9:25PM]

tl;dr :)

[snitch @ Mar 4th 2008 5:54PM]

How do we know that this is not an attempt to built the largest botnet outhere???? i mean they say the useless software is only available for windows users

[ReggieXuk @ Mar 4th 2008 5:56PM]

"If it seems too good to be true, it normally is!"

2nd best saying, after "When you think you've got everything figured, your wrong!"

[ratnikh @ Mar 4th 2008 6:29PM]

Their new slogan: We Have Songs!*

*We don't have songs.

That should clear things up for the lawyerin' folk.

[Zak @ Mar 4th 2008 7:13PM]

This actually made me LOL. Rank up for you.

[The Dude @ Mar 4th 2008 6:40PM]

SpiralFrog offers a comparable service with ACTUAL deals with the labels. Look at its catalog though...a measly 1 million or so tracks. It's doubtful that Qtrax can muster the 25 million they are/were claiming. They're getting press though, talking all this game about label deals when in fact they may not/don't. Maybe they're hoping to show the labels that there is an interest from the public in Qtrax (thanks to press coverage) and they'll use that to nudge the labels to the table.

[telepheedian @ Mar 4th 2008 6:58PM]

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if Spiralfrog is actually owned by Universal, it's all it has.

[Dan Bugglin @ Mar 4th 2008 6:59PM]

I love how they scrunched the most important UI bits of Songbird all the way to the left to make room for the all-important ad banner.

Oh wait, no I don't.

[OSnix*-geek @ Mar 4th 2008 7:26PM]

Didn't TVT file for bankrupcy? Trent Reznor is having sweet revenge on those fuckers!

[OSnix*-geek @ Mar 4th 2008 7:27PM]

Just to cover my ass BREAKING NEWS: TVT Filing Chapter 11; Staff Fired:
http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2008/02/18/19308089.aspx

So they have a deal with a company that is going bakrupt.

[dwayne hoobler @ Mar 7th 2008 1:20PM]

wouldn't it be great to have virtually any song you wanted to listen to, in a few minutes, legally without paying for it?

i applaud the positive posts, for your understanding of business and how new products come to be- and hate on the hater posts, spanksandwiches with too much time on thier hands to begin to understand from whence they spake. i understand where they are coming from, its just that thier voices are so muffled coming from the backside, through thier pants.