Date: Monday, January 28, 2008
Major Setback for Free File-Sharing Service
Despite initial claims to the contrary, three record labels have denied signing deals to allow their music to appear on Qtrax.
Qtrax is a new, legal file-sharing service that hoped to offer users free downloads. However, just 24-hours after a glittering launch in Cannes, the service seems to be on shaky ground.
Three of the four record companies that were thought to have reached an agreement with Qtrax have denied doing so, which severely reduces Qtrax’s supposed catalogue of around 25 million songs. Warner, EMI and Universal have all said that they have yet to license their music for use with the service, although Qtrax has said that it expects to sign deals with these labels soon. A spokesperson for Sony, the fourth record company involved with Qtrax, was unavailable for comment on the matter, so it is unknown whether they have agreed terms either.
While Qtrax had initially suggested that all four labels had agreed to licence their music to their service, a Qtrax spokesman later said that whilst their service "had the blessing" of all four record companies, "two of the four are more happy about it than the other two."
Qtrax aims to help record companies fight back against illegal downloads by providing a legal service that allows users to download songs for free. The songs’ licensing fees are then paid for via the site’s advertising revenue.
In addition to these licensing issues, the Qtrax website has also been plagued with a couple of other problems. Since its launch at midnight last night, the site has been regularly crashing due to overwhelming demand. The service has also been criticised by many potential users, as it is currently incompatible with Apple’s iPod, which is arguably the most popular portable media player. However, Qtrax has stated that an iPod-friendly version of their software could be available as soon as April.
Source:
BBC
Times
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