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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | mogleyb@aol.com |
| Subject | Dear Napster What Were We Thinking? |
| Date | Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:11:55 -0500 |
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Legal file-sharing service touts free music with ads
By Yinka Adegoke 39 minutes ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Qtrax, a new legal online file-sharing service
that allows fans to download songs for free, said on Sunday it will
launch with 25 million to 30 million copyrighted tracks with backing
from major labels.
The free service will be funded through advertising revenue that Qtrax
will share with the music companies.
Qtrax executives said the company's digital rights management
technology will count the number of times each song has been played in
order to fairly compensate artists and rights' holders, without
restricting consumer use.
The company has focused on ensuring that its network is free of spyware
or adware such as pop-ups common on many peer-to-peer networks to
improve the customer experience.
"If you want people to come to a legal environment it has to be
demonstrably better," said Chief Executive Allan Klepfisz.
Peer-to-peer services, which allow fans to exchange digital media files
quickly and easily, have been controversial for media companies because
the technology enables illegal distribution of copyrighted material.
Music companies have been badly hit as fans flocked to P2P services
like Limewire and e-Donkey to download millions of free songs rather
than buy CDs or legal downloads from Apple Inc.'s iTunes digital store.
The music trade organizations have used litigation with varying degrees
of success to try and close down P2P services they argue are promoting
piracy.
Klepfisz said the privately held Qtrax will help music companies by
allowing fans to achieve a balance between the ease of use of a free
P2P service with the need to compensate artists and songwriters.
Qtrax has deals with all four major companies including Vivendi's
Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group
and EMI Group.
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 will 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.
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.
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