Qtrax Off To A Rocky Start
Finally! Free DRM-hampered music from a dishonest company which you can't play on your iPod!
“Free and Legal Music Downloads” is what flashes before you as you visit Qtrax, amidst a few front page photographs which include the likes of Daft Punk and Lily Allen. Hitting the “What’s On Qtrax” button features the Foo Fighters, the Wu-Tang Clan, Feist, and Alicia Keys. All this free music from big name artists is possible thanks to deals with all four major US labels, which allow Qtrax to claim they have over 25 million files (which is more than the iTunes Music Store); oh, and all this is funded on an ad sales model.
But there’s a snag, and a mighty one at that: although the Qtrax people have been stating that they have deals with all four major labels, they only have one settled with EMI (I didn’t know EMI had a 25 million strong music catalog!). Warner has flat out denied having a deal, Universal said their agreement has expired, and Sony/BMG has stated that they want a play limit on all downloaded files before getting friendly with the startup.
Oh, because, yeah, the files are all crippled with that damning Windows Media DRM, which means, no, they won’t work on your iPod. You know, the best-selling portable MP3 device which people everywhere, young and old own? Yeah, it’s best you suppoort a format that doesn’t play on those devices from the get-go. But they say a deal with Apple is on the way, though… just like those deals with Warner, Sony and Universal…
This one has “fail” plastered all over it. I love the idea of making music accessible to all, but not through a misleading corporation who controls how I use my music. I much rather pay for it and listen to it where, how and how many times I want.
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