Former peer-to-peer music pirate Qtrax has emerged as a legal service as it has made a deal with EMI music to offer the company's music catalog for download.
They are offering a free ad-supported version, which offers the songs in a ".mpq" format that can play a limited number of times and solely on the computer that it is downloaded to.
When each track is listened to, Qtrax offers click-through options to buy products on Shopping.com
There will also be a premium subscription service for a flat monthly fee, where the user can get unlimited downloads in the Windows Media format which can be transferred to any digital music player except Apple's iPod. If you stop your subscription, the songs will no longer be playable.Ken Parks, EMI's senior vice president for strategy and business development said, "Qtrax is going to offer the consumer a pretty cool way to sample and discover music in a way that P2P users are used to, the difference is, you'll be presented with stuff that is cleared in a way that respects copyright yet preserving that 'free' experience. You'll not be asked to pay until you want to pull the trigger, so it's a pretty friendly place to explore and discover music."
Comment Preview