Free music download scheme hits bum note

AT DAWN yesterday a chorus of 25 million free and legal songs were supposed to herald a new revolution in music.

But those who stayed awake hoping to download an entire music library without breaking the law or paying a cent were greeted by a single track — the sound of silence.

Yesterday, internet discussion forums published rumours and speculation as to why Qtrax’s proposed launch did not go to plan.

At midnight in America and 5am in Ireland the company had intended to make 25 million tracks available free of charge with the backing of the major record labels.

Online news reports in America shortly before the launch time indicated it would not go ahead and some went as far as to suggest the service may have to be put on hold.

Qtrax’s plan was to sponsor each download with advertising and share the revenue with the record company/artist.

This would avoid the threat of criminal proceedings hanging over anybody who uses unofficial music download websites.

Throughout yesterday track downloads were not possible from the Qtrax website.

The Irish Examiner was unsuccessful in its attempt to contact Qtrax’s parent company Brilliant Technologies.

However, Qtrax chief executive Allan Klepfisz was quoted on technology based CNet News saying the service would still be launched even if the agreement of the major labels was not “written in stone”.

“This is a tempest in a tea cup. It’s true, some of the deals may not be locked in ink, but it’s also true that we had understandings. In some cases, we had endorsements,” he said.

He was speaking at a major music industry conference in Cannes, France, which was intended to be the launch pad for Qtrax.

He was questioned after the Los Angeles Times reported Qtrax would not be going live because it did not have the backing of industry giant EMI.

Warner music told Reuters it had not given its support for Qtrax either.

Record labels are understood to prefer allowing people to listen to songs directly on-line in the style of a selectable radio station and not to facilitate advertising sponsored downloading.