After picking up the last of the major labels in February, online music service Qtrax has launched a free ad-supported music download service.
The free service uses a downloadable media player to manage and play the free songs. The songs come with DRM that restricts them from being played on non-Windows computers and portable music players, including the ever-popular Apple iPod. Qtrax president Allan Klepfisz has continually said these restrictions will soon be lifted. The service currently works with some higher-end Windows mobile devices and MP3 players.
Qtrax is launching with all four major labels on board and quite a few of the larger independent labels. Qtrax put itself in a tough spot last year when it announced it had secured all the major labels and was set to launch, when in reality it had not finalized any deal with any major label. The service is still on shaky ground, launching on the heels of the demise of SpiralFrog, a similar ad-supported service.
While the launch is coming at a time when ad-supported online services are being questioned and subscription models are being considered more and more, Qtrax is betting on the desire for free song downloads. Piracy is a pretty big backer for this view.
The Qtrax service itself requires a user to download a Mozilla browser-based application that works as a music player and Web browser. It shows ads in the browser along with any relevant page ads that users navigate to. Qtrax will be paying royalties and sharing ad revenues with the music labels involved.
The company says an international launch should happen next month and it expects to attract an audience to entice major advertisers then. The service will be a tough sell unless it gets on board with Apple products soon and can figure out a convenient way give users access to their music.
As far as user experience, there seems to be a lot of confusion and frustration over the service. The application is Mozilla-based, but most users complain of an inability to download the software with Mozilla’s Firefox. The service looks like it still has some bumps in the road, and most consumers either love it or hate it.