The Digital Music Thread

we might as well keep a running conversation somewhere other than smackie's vanity thread ;)

Qtrax Debut on Hold Amid Licensing Snag

CANNES, France – A distributor of Internet file-swapping software abruptly postponed the launch of its free online music service until it can finalize music licensing deals _ a detail the company omitted when it threw a star-studded coming-out party over the weekend.

Qtrax's ambitious, ad-supported music service promised unlimited, advertising-supported music downloads with the blessing of the major recording companies. That claim began to unravel just hours before Qtrax's scheduled debut Monday when Warner Music Group Corp. issued a statement that it had not authorized the firm to distribute its artists' music.

Other major record labels soon followed.

this one sounds like a real winner, licensing problems aside

"Qtrax does indeed purport to be a free legal music downloading service, with 30 million high quality tracks from all the majors. You download its special client, which in turn downloads the music from the not-notably-legal Gnutella P2P network. The client filters out bad and unlicensed tracks, bungs on some DRM, adds adverts and the stuff's yours."

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10007187o-2000331777b,00.htm

even more fun stuff on Qtrax


I was finally able to get the Qtrax 0.2 beta client from a German site (thanks to commenter HellBoyTom), and it's clearly based on Songbird.

To register with Qtrax, download the client, follow a download link from the front page, and follow the "Register" link from the upper-right hand corner. But once you've done that, you'll still be waiting for downloads to be enabled.

Songbird defies easy summarization: it's an open-source project, based on the Mozilla platform, that intends to ease the creation of digital media apps. The basic app is a straightforward music library organizer and player (some of Songbird's founders worked on Winamp), and Songbird offers resources for developers to create customized versions of this basic player (think APIs, documentation, sample code, a loose license, and so on.) It's an intriguing project, but I hadn't seen any compelling reason to download it.

The experience is akin to using a skinned version of Firefox: the "browser" appears in the middle of the screen, and defaults to a Qtrax page that offers featured artists, such as Foo Fighters and Amy Winehouse. Surrounding this screen are various other UI elements, including the all-important advertisements. From the home page, you can register via a link on the upper right hand side of the page, and once you've confirmed your registration via e-mail, you're ready to use Qtrax's search engine to find songs. This music's obviously not in a Qtrax-owned database. If I had to guess how it works, it seems to scan pages from all over the Web, looking for audio file extensions–sort of like JimmyR's Mp3 Music Search page, which is basically a modified Google search.

Qtrax found my test case, UFO's "Love to Love"–about ten different versions, in fact–but the download button gave me an disappointing but not surprising message that downloads are coming soon. Apparently until the licensing deals are worked out, there's no there there.

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13526_1-9859840-27.html


The open source folks will have a fit over this one…

qtrax have at least gotten Songbird licensed correctly…

U2's manager on controlling filesharing

(found via Coolfer )

You know the more I think about Qtrax, the move I'm inclined to stay the hell away..

Presumably, the Qtrax P2P client is interacting with other Gnutella users, other wise it would take some time to build up the catalog of 20 to 30 Million songs. Which means they have no control on whats actually available, how files are encoded, if the files are named correctly, etc.

The part that concerns me is that if I'm sharing files via Qtrax and it's typically the file sharer that the RIAA goes after. If they go to another Qtrax user it's considered "legal"… Will it be considered illegal if it goes to a non-Qtrax user? Quite frankly that alone doesn't make it worth the hassle and risk to use the product.

Not to mention will it still be illegal to download material not released in the US. What happens is the current Gnutella users decide they don't want a bunch of freeloaders clogging up their sharing and stop.

awesome link, BC. thoughts/comments:

Radiohead's honesty box principle showed that if not constrained, the customer will steal music.

while true - you can't deny the facts - that statements needs to be qualified. some stole b/c they didn't want to pay anything, not even the .99 transaction charge. but i truly believe that many used P2P to download In Rainbows because it was easier - less steps, less hassle, and faster DL for the most part. compare the p2p route (search for "in rainbows" and click on result) to the hoops one had to go through to order legitimately (go through multi-step shopping basket, open up account and type in address, enter CC number, confirm order, wait for e-mail, go to new website with code… and then hope that the download was fast). until buying online become easier, natural laziness will ensure that people will choose the path of least resistance. to say that music consumers are evil looking to steal is wrong. we're mostly lazy.

the collapse of the old financial model for recorded music will also mean the end of the songwriter

no, it'll mean that the songwriter - and heaven forbid, the labels - will have to innovate and find a new financial model. sure is easier to prop up the old one using threats (blanketed under a "moral imperative" by the speaker).

Their snouts have been at our trough feeding free for too long.

hum, sounds familiar…

i think i'm going to fire up my p2p client and see if i can DL an MP3 of this speech. lots of good samples to be had in there.

Well I did wonder about some this…

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9860263-7.html?tag=tb

After labels, Qtrax must satisfy Prince, Van Morrison

Should troubled file-sharing site Qtrax, eventually strike licensing deals with the major music companies, it still may face a significant hurdle.

Web Sheriff, a company representing music acts such as Prince, Van Morrison, and The Black Crowes, has notified Qtrax that it shouldn't think about offering their music, photographs, or other intellectual property until it has secured the artists' OK.

"Whilst Qtrax is an interesting model, many major label and indie artists will not be happy about their music being given away free (to consumers) in return for a currently opaque return from advertising revenues," said John Giacobbi, Web Sheriff's president, in an e-mail.

While Qtrax doesn't appear to have begun offering music downloads, there are photos posted to the site of artists such as the Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, and Wyclef Jean.

Daft Punk is on the EMI label while Jean and the Foo Fighters are represented by Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Representatives from Qtrax and the labels could not be reached for comment late Monday evening. It's unclear whether Qtrax has permission to use the photos.

"Any unauthorized use of copyright photos and/or copyright artwork is in violation of (the law)," Giacobbi said.

Anyone here subscribe to KCRW's podcasts? They post occasional live sets and a daily song. Today's song is a cover of "Creep" by Damien Rice. For me, the podcasts have been a good no-fuss source of new stuff.

It's funny to see the industry come all the back around to where they were day one with Napster - albeit nearly ten years later. And they still can't do the right thing. Amazing.

I'd imagine this is fairly frustrating for Fanning to read.

So is Qtrax.com the most clueless company ever?

BAM Racing gets sponsor for Shootout

BAM Racing officials announced Tuesday that Qtrax.com will sponsor the team's No. 49 Dodge driven by Ken Schrader in Saturday's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.

that and the brilliant press release touting hits, ad impressions, number of users online, and the just the hint of music file availability. They are now merely touting the software as a media player for now. Of course it is just a rebranded Songbird, software it's self still under development.

from the "justice bites off more than it can chew" thread:

Originally posted by kosmo:
a bunch of those are available on eMusic…

alright already, i give up - i'll join eMusic. two questions for you regular eMusic'ers:
1) what bitrate are most songs?
2) if i sign up for 30 tracks a month and only DL 20, what happens to the other 10 - roll over, or lose them?

if anyone wants to invite me and get the referral bonus, go for it (PM me for e-mail address). as long as i still get my 50 track sign-up bonus.

edit: #2 isn't as important anymore, as i see that they have a download manager… i'm assuming i can queue up a bunch of DLs, and use that to ensure that i grab my monthly allotment.

Originally posted by sweetcell:
1) what bitrate are most songs?

ditto on this question

Originally posted by chaz:

Originally posted by sweetcell:
1) what bitrate are most songs?

ditto on this question

VBR, from mid-100s to low-200s.

not only VBR but LAME encoded as well..

invite sent to sweetcell hoping i'm not to late…

the download manager is only used for one time downloading, doesn't really create a queue for use at a late date… need to use the save for later or create playlists to do remind ones self of what to download. downloads do not rollover and by all means do not sign up for the audiobook subscription, it's a bit ugly…

Found this new application currently in beta called Reble.fm which allows you to listen to music on a friends computer over the internet. But me thinks they need to get better legal counsel. The response to is this program legal is

"The key to Reble is that you're sharing music with a small set of people that you know. Copies of songs can only be listened to by one person at a time, so other potential listeners have to wait until you're done. Tragic I know. Since we're based on a streaming architecture illegal copies of songs do not spread, unlike filesharing programs. Finally, none of your library data is centrally stored, it's between you and your friends."

As one commentor point out on Techcrunch… Does anyone remember Aimster and how long it lasted?

Anyone want to predict how long it's before this app goes into the great beyond?

don't get me wrong rebel.fm is a cool idea and would be a nifty way to share playlists and yes it's sort of like having friends over to listen to music, but it needs a way to get legal in terms of copyright law.

kosmo - got your invite, thanks. i'll be signing up over the weekend probably.

about Reble.fm: is it peer-to-peer, or does it depend on a central server? b/c if it's true p2p, we should all DL the app as soon as possible. the company will definitely be shut down, but once it's installed we'll be able to stream each other's music collections. preview city!

p2p and only the windows client is available currently… it's built on the Jabber open source instant messaging protocol… and what your saying is download now and use later ;)

Anyone using Anywhere.fm? because I'm liking whats on offer… i.e. Upload your own music, let others listen to it and it's licensed! Only problem is I don't generally rip my CDs to MP3s….