Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Is Qtrax Already in Jeopardy?

When Qtrax was unleashed recently at a glittering launch party in Cannes, expectations for the legal file-sharing service were high. Indeed, the site has become so popular that Qtrax’s server struggles to cope with demand and the site crashes on a regular basis. However, despite Qtrax’s initial success, its future looked decidedly shaky this week, after a number of major labels denied licensing their music for use with the service.

Qtrax initially suggested that all four major record labels had licensed their music for use with the music-sharing service, although a Qtrax spokesperson later admitted that while their service "had the blessing" of the four record labels, "two of the four are more happy about it than the other two."

Emi, Warner and Universal have all denied reaching a deal with Qtrax, with a Warner spokeperson stating that the firm "has not authorised the use of our content on Qtrax's recently-announced service." If this is the case, it certainly puts a substantial dent in the service’s supposed catalogue of 25 million songs. However, despite these label's making claims to the contrary, a Qtrax spokesperson has said that they are currently in talks with them and expect to reach an agreement soon. Sony are the fourth record label involved with Qtrax, although they have declined to comment on this matter, so it is unclear whether they have agreed to license their music or not.

Qtrax was established to offer free legal downloads, which would help record companies to fight back against internet piracy. Although users would be able to download unlimited amounts of music for free, the site would use advertising to generate revenue.

Qtrax have also faced criticism, as their software is currently incompatible with Apple’s iPod portable music players. However, a Qtrax spokesperson said that they hope to have iPod compatible software available by April.

Sources:

BBC

Times