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EMI Launches Advertising-Supported P2P Service
SirClicksalot writes to tell us that EMI is launching the first ad-supported peer-to-peer music downloading service called Qtrax. With Qtrax users will have two tiers of membership available to them, which EMI hopes will draw in a large segment of users to try it out and graduate many of them to stay on with a monthly fee or purchase music permanently. From the article "In the ad-supported, free tier, users will be able to search the network for specific tracks, and those tracks registered with Qtrax will be made available for download in Qtrax's proprietary ".mpq" file format. Users will then be able to play the downloaded .mpq file in full-fidelity sound quality for a pre-defined number of times. Each time a consumer plays a track, the Qtrax player will also offer fans click-to-buy purchase options, as well as the opportunity to upgrade to a premium subscription service for a flat monthly fee."
Qtrax's proprietary ".mpq" file format
There, out of business before I was able to read to the end of the article.
Let's see... I get a "free" version of this P2P. Said P2P software contains adware and r00ts my system. Therefore, I pay a monthly fee for songs that are so DRM'ed that I can't play them more than a few times? Am I the only one that thinks there's something broken with this?
So, that means that I'll be buying
Oh, and on an unrelated note ThePirateBay is back up again.
You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
Well given my recent troubles to decrypt an EMI copy protected CD i'm not sure where to go for music that I can listen to in the manner I choose.
.wma files hidden in a second session on the cd. It was one hell of a lot easier to simply download the music, why do I feel punished for trying to do the 'right' thing.
Seriously I use to pirate alot of music then I decided one day that it wasn't right and I should pay for the music I listen to. So I went out and purchased a couple of new CD's and I get rewarded with CD's that don't play in some CD players or as with the case with the last CD I bought, cannot play it on my computer or store the music on my computer. I can run the Macromedia player thing that comes with it but that it turns out is just playing
FTA:The premium subscription service tier uses Microsoft's Janus DRM technology, which allows consumers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to music in the Qtrax network. Subscribers will also have the ability to transfer content to Windows Media enabled portable devices for as long as the subscription stays active.
Services like this will never work. Their formats aren't compatible with iPODs and their proprietary formats and 'listen as long as you subscribe' business models are just plain stupid.
How about a service where it's fifty cents to download a song, you can choose what format you want it in and it doesn't expire.
How about letting me download it and listen to it first to see if I like it. If I don't pony up the two quarters it expires in a week.
How about making an online store that doesn't require iTunes, Windows Media Player or any of the other bloatware mp3 players out there.
How about putting together an online music store that people will actually use, until then me and everybody else I know of is just going to keep pirating.
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Won't work on iPod. Won't work on any portable music player. This'll go the way of Circuit City's DIVX and they'll blame piracy for the failure of their inflexible system.
Trolling is a art,
Finally we have a service that combines the advertisements we love with the digital rights management software that keeps our music safely encoded! Bonus feature: we get to enjoy the advertisements all over again when our favorite song expires!
-Z