Lots of talk recently about the newly announced Qtrax service. If you have not heard, QTRAX is a peer to peer music download service that lets you download and use DRM’d copies of music from all of the major record labels. The catch is that you have to use the Qtrax software, which is ad supported. I guess it sounds like a great idea…right?
Turns out that the Qtrax announcement that all four major record labels were signed on to offer their catalogs was not REALLY true. The labels have said that they have not entered into contracts with the service. There is some discussion still with the record labels, but nothing is final or even guaranteed.
The issues with the failed Qtrax announcement aside, does free music really benefit anyone? The music from Qtrax still has DRM, and still forces listeners to use only certain methods for listening to that music. I don’t really think we need another DRM based music service, especially one based on P2P technology. Why not just buy music?
In my opinion, the music download services that Amazon and eMusic are offering are EXACTLY what the music industry needs to be focused on. I know lot’s of people think that everything on the Internet should be free, not a terribly viable method for doing business, but I for one don’t have a problem with paying for CD’s or mp3 downloads. My requirement is that the downloads MUST be DRM free. EMusic and Amazon MP3 both do that with their services. I pay eMusic 9.99 a month to download 30 new tracks from independent artists, and I often buy single tracks (and even entire albums) from Amazon. Typically if I am going to buy an entire album I will buy the actual CD, but it depends on my mood. This is a really great way to purchase music in my opinion.
I guess I just don’t understand the idea of trying to get all of this music for free. I am proud to say that every single track I have on my computers and portable music players is a 100% legal copy. Why not just buy the music you want and actually pay for it?