In all the efforts the music industry is trying to fight off P2P, never mind trying to make it a crime, music labels are gradually looking back to it as a potentially efficient means of distributing music. EMI has now signed a deal with an ad-supported file sharing network company Qtrax to make its music catalogue freely available for download on condition that consumers watch ads. Alternatively one can pay a subscription for an ad-free version.
Up until now, advertisers have taken a high risk with showing their ads on file sharing applications, mainly due to most users illegally sharing copyrighted content over and thus in turn the advertisers are effectively helping fund the network and its activities. So far, no advertisers have signed up with Qtrax, however they expect to get some onboard once the service launches.
Like most other legal music download services, the tracks come complete with DRM. The audio files downloaded as part of the ad-supported service will feature a .mqv extension and each song can be played up to five times, however this can vary depending on what the music company behind the song decides. Consumers are then given an option to purchase the CD or related products. EMI also aims to use Qtrax as a means of tracking what consumers listen to and decide to purchase. The service will being a testing phase later this year, but will not fully launch until Vivendi's Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music have signed on to join EMI with Qtrax also.
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The new service--called Qtrax, developed by New York-based LTDnetwork and slated for launch later this year--will give consumers the ability to download music for free after watching ads, or the option of paying for a premium subscription version. Financial terms of the deal with London-based EMI, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, were not disclosed, though EMI, which is the first of the music majors to sign up, will share in both the advertising and song sales revenue. The full c|net article can be read here. |
At a first glance, this looks like a nice idea until the drawbacks are looked at. For example, if consumers are faced with having to watch a several second animated ad prior to starting every song, chances are that this would send them somewhere else. On the other hand, if the ads are displayed as banners in the software's interface like how most other ad-sponsored networks operated, this may work quite well. As EMI plan on offering a subscription model, it will be interesting to see what this will cost, particularly since there are already various unlimited download subscription services available and all these do not have any play limit other than the songs expiring once the consumers stops paying their subscription. Otherwise, it would be like re-inventing Napster's subscription model all over, but using a P2P approach! :p
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Source: c|net News - Media
