(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
I’m guessing the people behind Qtrax are feeling a bit red-faced and silly now after the somewhat premature launch of their music service at the weekend.
The plan was that users could listen to unlimited free music online in exchange for taking in an ad before each track. Sounds good in theory but, unfortunately, it seems the Qtrax dudes and dudettes hadn’t actually come to an agreement with all the music execs.
There’s been buzz online about the plan for a while now and the whole thing got under way with a big coming-out party at the weekend.
However, on Monday, just hours before the official debut, Warner Music Group burst the Qtrax bubble by saying it had not authorised the firm to distribute its artists’ music. That opened the floodgates, and other major labels echoed Warner’s statement.
Oops.
Qtrax now says the launch of the service will be put off for a “short time” but still says it has the support of “rights holders” .
Kiwis appear to be a bit unimpressed with the Qtrax concept but I’ll wait until it’s up and running before I pass judgment.
However, I do think it’s a good sign. How we listen to music is changing because of the internet so it stands to reason that our way of paying should have to change, too.
Music piracy isn’t a new problem: people have been stealing music for years, taping from the radio or a friend’s vinyl. The only thing that has changed is it’s now easier to steal good-quality recordings.
We hear so much about piracy and how damaging it is to the music industry so any effort to move with the times should be given a chance. Um, so long as the company concerned actually has the right to distribute the music.