Warner is not on the Qtrax
LOS ANGELES (AP) - January 28, 2008 Qtrax touted in a press release Sunday morning that it was the
first Internet file-swapping service to be "fully embraced by the
music industry," and boasted it would carry up to 30 million
tracks from "all the major labels."
New York-based Warner Music undermined that claim, declaring in
a statement that it "has not authorized the use of our content on
Qtrax's recently announced service."
Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC later confirmed they did
not have licensing deals in place with Qtrax, noting discussions
were still ongoing. A call to Sony BMG Music Entertainment was not
immediately returned.
Music services such as Qtrax must secure licensing agreements
from the record companies, which own the rights to master
recordings, and music publishers, which control the rights to song
compositions. Each of the major recording companies also operates
music publishing units.
Allan Klepfisz, Qtrax's president and chief executive,
acknowledged Sunday that the deal with Warner Music had not been
signed, but said he expects to reach an agreement on terms
"shortly."
"With everybody else, we have agreed on all terms," he added,
noting that in some cases, deals had yet to be formally signed.
Qtrax had been scheduled to make its online debut on Monday, a
day after its splashy coming-out party at the annual Midem music
business conference in Cannes, France.
The development marked an inauspicious start for Qtrax, the
latest online music venture counting on the lure of free music to
draw in music fans and on advertising to pay the bills, namely
record company licensing fees.
The service was among several peer-to-peer file-sharing
applications that emerged following the shutdown of Napster, the
pioneer service that enabled millions to illegally copy songs
stored in other music fans' computers.
Qtrax shut down after a few months following its 2002 launch to
avoid potential legal trouble.
The company said it latest version of the service still lets
users tap into file-sharing networks to search for music. Downloads
however come with copy-protection technology known as
digital-rights management, or DRM, to prevent users from burning
copies to a CD and calculate how to divvy up advertising sales with
labels.
Qtrax downloads can be stored indefinitely on PCs and
transferred onto portable music players, however.
The company also promises that its music downloads will be
playable on Apple Inc.'s iPods and Macintosh computers until April
15. That's unusual, as iPods only playback unrestricted MP3s files
or tracks with Apple's proprietary version of DRM, dubbed FairPlay.
In an earlier interview, Klepfisz declined to give specifics on
how Qtrax will make its audio files compatible with Apple devices,
but noted that "Apple has nothing to do with it."
Apple has been resistant in the past to license FairPlay to
other online music retailers. That stance has effectively limited
iPod users to loading up their players with tracks purchased from
Apple's iTunes Music Store, or MP3s ripped from CDs or bought from
vendors such as eMusic or Amazon.com.
Phone and e-mail messages left for Apple on Sunday night were
not immediately returned.
Rob Enderle, technology analyst at the San Jose-based Enderle
Group, said he expects Apple would take steps to block Qtrax files
from working on iPods.
Last fall, the company issued a software update for its iPhones
that created problems for units modified by owners so they would
work with a cellular carrier other than AT&T Inc. As a result, some
modified phones ceased to work after the software update.
The move prompted antitrust lawsuits on behalf of some
consumers.
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On the Net:
Qtrax: http://www.qtrax.com