EMI Launches Advertising-Supported P2P Service 260
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."
iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:4, Interesting)
Why is this better than iTunes? Because with iTunes, the money comes directly out of your pocket but you're still forced to decrypt those files you're buying. The primary difference is that iTunes gives you the sense that you'll always be able to play that song after you've paid for it, but does anyone have this in writing?
I'm not sure but I would wager that the "Premium" tier service for Qtrax operates in much the same way as iTunes
Having been in bands that only play the local scene, this new "P2P2A" just looks like another level of penetration preventing bands from "making it big." For a second there, it looked like the internet & P2P networks would allow starting bands to release their stuff for anyone if they so chose (something that used to require signing a label). Now, you have to be signed on a label and it has to be the right label with deals worked with iTunes or Qtrax to make your music available. If consumers are moved to use primarily one of these two programs for their music, how will they ever be exposed to bands on indie labels or bands not on labels at all?
What I'm trying to say is
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
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
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Interesting)
The smart move here is to go back to downloading your music in free, unencumbered, formats without the artist's permission. If you have an overpowering urge to pay for the music you listen to, then by all means do so, but don't
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Interesting)
trying to do the right thing? (Score:3)
Seriously, my home stereo IS a computer. Using a proprietary player is not an option; that would be like using a CD changer except for a handful of CDs that requie their own proprietary player, which you have to plug into your stereo whenever you want to listen to them.
My solution is to only listen to music that is available in usable formats. That basically means MP3 and _real_ CD audio. Funny
CDDA logo (Score:3, Informative)
h2g2bob
Re:CDDA logo (Score:2)
Re:CDDA logo (Score:2, Informative)
http://features.engadget.com/2004/06/29/how-to-tu
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Interesting)
This is what I do:
If I like a track, but it's in a format I cannot play (DRM wmv, copy-protected CD etc.) I may not buy it. I don't like to support that kind of crap. But if I really like it, I will download it illegally, then buy it. I
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
I, Pirate [blogspot.com] (To plagiarize the 'I, Robot', meaning someone rejected by society as a subling)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Funny)
Don't worry about it too much. The important thing is that you learned your lesson.
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:4, Insightful)
Or perhaps he just appreciates the ease that keyboard shortcuts bring? With a media player that understands the media keys on my keyboard, I can pause/stop/start/etc my music no matter what app has focus. That might not be useful to you, but it certainly is to me.
Look up mplayer. You won't like it: but I do.
You're right, I don't like mplayer. I used to use xmms a lot, but have since switched to WMP.
But that's beside the point; thanks to the proprietary "mpq" format, it doesn't matter what player you like, or he likes or I like - we can't use it.
More to the point, I can't listen to the music on my iRiver. That's a big enough deal to make this a complete non-starter for me.
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
Agreed. That's reason enough to hate it. It's not like you have to bring in the lack of visualisations into the mix in order to criticise. It's non-free. Enough said.
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:4, Informative)
From the article itself:
"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."
In other words: only supported by Windows Media portable players or Window itself, only plays as long as you pay your monthly fee, non-transferable to different formats.
As in, worse than iTunes.
Nothing to see here folks - just another showpiece online music store from the music industry so that they can show how "pirates are hurting even sales of music in digital format" while they lobby for wider copyright protection, mandatory DRM on everything and tougher penalties for non-commercial copyrigh infringement.
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
As in, worse than iTunes.
That last bit sounds exactly the same as itunes.
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Informative)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Informative)
As long as CDs exist, itunes music is forever (Score:2)
1: Backup . Mom always said backup frequently and often.
2: DRM free version. This version is DRM free. You can rerip. I've tried it reripping as mp3 (256). I couldn't notice any noticable decrease in quality. If you can you probably shouldn't be buying 128 kbps aac's in the first place..
3: Jhymm (cough)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:2)
Re:iTunes FairPlay Vs Qtrax DRM (Score:3, Insightful)
No iPod compatability = dead. (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, since they're using their own custom DRM and relying on you seeing adverts while you listen (how many people look at the screen while listening to music, then?) it won't work with other portable players, either.
So why are you going to want this, other than for the free version to try out tracks occasionally (and possibly record them to a less encumbered format)?
Re:No iPod compatability = dead. (Score:5, Insightful)
Won't work on iPod. Won't work on any portable music player. This'll go the way of Circuit City's DIVX [wikipedia.org] and they'll blame piracy for the failure of their inflexible system.
Re:No iPod compatability = dead. (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:No iPod compatability = dead. (Score:3, Informative)
That sure was fast... (Score:5, Insightful)
There, out of business before I was able to read to the end of the article.
Re:That sure was fast... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:That sure was fast... (Score:2, Informative)
I was once a victim of Sonys piece of crap ATRAC format and will never be caught out like that again.
Prior to moving overseas for an extended backpacking holiday followed up by living overseas for a while I purchased a SONY mp3 player. Like an idiot I converted all my (and my GFs) CDs to ATRAC format onto the player so we could listen to them while away as I wasnt going to bring all our CDs with us (approx 60-70 CDs).
So now living in another country I have a whole bunch of ATRAC files that I cant mo
Re:That sure was fast... (Score:2)
Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is one major point where Microsoft has always been critizised - lax security. And now really big companies undermine even the weak efforts Microsoft has put into their OS because of freaking ad-supported DRM encumbered music... way to go, EMI...
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:4, Interesting)
- Make their sofware be able to go around your personal firewall to "phone home"
- Make their sofware, outside the control of your personal firewall, be available as a server so that it can be updated/controlled remotelly
- Wrapping, at the TCP stack level, all traffic to and from their software in an encryption layer so that you can't figure out what information is being send over the wire by snooping.
- Increase the (thread/process level) priority of TCP/UDP traffic to and from their software so that your machine is a beter P2P drone.
- Make your machine a drone in their P2P network all the time as long as Windows is running, even if you kill all user space processes and threads.
- Making it harder to read any key material from memory when their software checks with the server to see if you're still allowed to listen to your music.
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:4, Insightful)
No, no, no... This is just a monumentally stupid idea, and its creators are in ugrent need of public redicule, if not a lawsuit by Microsoft.
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:2)
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:2)
It'd be a lot of work to tell for certain, but the obvious guess is that it undermines all other p2p software, either by making it fail to work or by reporting you to EMI (or both).
What Joe Doesn't know (Score:3, Interesting)
Put on something you'd expect to see a broadcast journalist to wear on TV
Grab a friend to operate the camera.
Go out on the street.
Interview random people about "The Sony Root Kit Debacle."
Watch the clueless looks you get, even if you try this stunt on the MIT Campus.
Joe Six Pack and most the nation most the nation know nothing about the Sony Root Kit.
Joe Doesn't care either (Score:2)
maybe Joe is right, a lot less worries thatv way
Re:Joe Doesn't care either (Score:2)
Dim Bliss
Ignorance == Bliss
Re:Wait, so why should we get this? (Score:2)
You pay a subscription to listen to music a limited number of times, perfectly reasonable just like subscription radio. Maybe you feel it's too expensive, take your money somewhere else then...
Same goes for the software, it's offered, and nobody is forcing you to use it, in other words, it's not broken, just not for you.
Permanently? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, that means that I'll be buying
Oh, and on an unrelated note ThePirateBay [thepiratebay.org] is back up again.
Re:Permanently? (Score:2)
Corporations looking to turn a profit don't care. They aren't catering to the Slashdot crowd. iTunes is a resounding success and proves that if a legal music download service is done correctly then people will use it. Nobody is interested in pandering to the "if it's not an open format then I won't use it" crowd because if it's a fair DRM scheme it's been proven that Joe Sixpack will use it. As long as you can burn purchased tracks to a CD then you can re-rip them in any format y
Seems a little fishy - PirateBay (OT) (Score:2)
Your PirateBay link, that is. Anything you click on at the main page (http://www.thepiratebay.org) takes you to http://thepiratebay.org./ [thepiratebay.org.] And a lot of the funny legal notices are missing.
Are we sure the right people are running this system, or is it a honeypot to collect IP addresses? The whole site was confiscated a while ago by police. Are we sure who's running it?
Re:Seems a little fishy - PirateBay (OT) (Score:2)
Secondly, redirecting from http://www.foo.com/ [foo.com] to just http://foo.com/ [foo.com] is quite common and normal. The domain is owned by the same person/group, as www is just a subdomain, and the redirect just serves to remind users that www is deprecated.
There's a lot more to it at http://no-www.org/ [no-www.org] and rest assured that The Pirate Bay is still being operated by the same folk.
Answer: eMusic (Score:2)
At $.22 per track, decent VBR MP3 files with no DRM, over 600,000 tracks to choose from [emusic.com], HELL YEAH!
Of course the picky among us will still refuse for dubious reasons (30 second previews, don't like the way files are tagged, no Brittney, etc., ad nauseum).
But I, for one, support the things they are doing right (great selection, no DRM, you bought it - you own it) by subscribing. Get your 15 free tracks, browse the collection, see if you don't feel the same...
It's a chance to put your money where your mo
Re:Permanently? (Score:2)
Eminently Defeatable (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Eminently Defeatable (Score:2)
Or pipe them through mpq2mp3 (Score:3, Insightful)
Probably in a couple of weeks.
Re:Or pipe them through mpq2mp3 (Score:2)
Re:Or pipe them through mpq2mp3 (Score:2)
Mic inputs are mono, and have preamplification and bandpass filtering which make them unsuitable for anything but recording speech.
Re:Or pipe them through mpq2mp3 (Score:2)
No. Everything I've got that has onboard sound, everything I've seen recently (including cheap business PCs) and so on has both line-in and mic ports.
Not mine. I ended up getting a mic from radio hut because I needed to record some quickie voice stuff for the in-house advertising loop. I further ended up with a 1/4" mono to 1/8" stereo miniplug adapter... for a reason.
Re:Eminently Defeatable (Score:3, Interesting)
Basically it sets up a sound card drvier on your computer that all the programs that emit sound use to play back through, and you can record that sound into different formats like mp3 and ogg as it is played through your speakers...
Patrick
Re:Eminently Defeatable (Score:2)
Re:Eminently Defeatable (Score:2)
bad format, try again (Score:2, Funny)
Not gonna work (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
signature goes here
Re:Not gonna work (Score:4, Informative)
Like Magnatune? [magnatune.com] ;)
Sorry to bang on about it and okay, I know the selection isn't the best but it's not bad at all. You can try entire albums before you buy, download in whatever format (MP3, OGG, WAV, Flac, etc), albums costs $6.00 each (you can pay more if you want), it doesn't need any proprietary player, the downloads work with any MP3 player.
Oh and you can give 3 copies of your download to friends legally. And the help is way better than anything else out there for music.
And yes, I do use it. In fact, it's the only place I get music these days because I'm tired of being treated like a potential criminal ("pirate") and paying for the privilege.
Re:Not gonna work (Score:2)
It's unclear exactly what bit rates are available (the site says "high quality Ogg Vorbis"), but a variety of formats are available including flac so you can transcode to whatever format and bitrate your heart desires.
You can download multiple times if you want to. Presumably you can choose a different format each time, but you'd have to try it to be sure.
Re:Not gonna work (Score:2)
Re:Not gonna work (Score:2)
Cynical hat on here
Re:Not gonna work (Score:2)
Middle managers wouldn't be "in the know", as it were. It'd be the bigwigs of the industry who'd devise this, then pass it on to the middlemen to implement, leaving out details like, "It's supposed to fail".
Audible.com as an example (Score:2)
You know what? If I were to cancel the subscription, I'd STILL be able to listen to all that media without paying an extra penny.
Hell, I'll even be able to download a new copy from audible.com at my preferred quality level.
All without paying extra or maintaining a subscription.
While I'm sure the iPod compatibility helps a lot, they were doing well when they were selling their own player, and the Audible Otis was CRAP. Hell, they were doing so well, Apple approached THEM
Making Money Selling Music Without DRM (Score:3, Insightful)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/23/14162
eMusic sells straight MP3 files.
And they even have the entirety of the Frank Zappa Library.
Yeah, Cool. (Score:4, Funny)
RadioShack sells them... (Score:3, Funny)
Not portable == Not useable (Score:3, Insightful)
I can do that already with internet radio. For free. Now, again, why should I pay for that service? I didn't quite get that part, but maybe I'm just too dumb to see the insightful, grandious idea that marketing spun there.
Error: failed variable type cast (Score:2)
That's even worse than folks comparing satellite radio (hundreds of channels for content/variety junkies/cross-country drivers) to HD radio (one or two really high-def channels
nice system! (Score:5, Funny)
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
-Z
Step in right direction - needs some improvement (Score:2)
The problems they need to eliminate now are the inter-operability between devices, the 'expire' annoyance.
It's *NEW*! (Score:3, Interesting)
Half-way, but not enough... (Score:2, Insightful)
Stupid. (Score:2)
The recording industry: we heard you! (Score:2)
Well, maybe not for artists, but, I mean, come on, we're doing everything 'round here.
Not for any device, but, you could just buy a PlaysForSure player (damn you iPod!).
Ok, not for a great price, we kinda exaggerated: no free lunch you know. In fact, you can't buy it at all, it's a monthly fee.
The quality may suck a little, it's a l
Uh huh... (Score:2)
Next thing you know, there'll be rumors flying around about how you can listen to the music in every one of Blizzard's games by plugging Bliz's *.mpq files into the Qtrax player.
EMI takes one step forward, two steps back... (Score:5, Interesting)
The premium subscription service tier uses Microsoft's Janus DRM technology...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.
1) You don't ever own the music. It's being licensed, and as soon as you cancel your subscription, the DRM will stop the music from playing.
2) You can't burn the music to a CD, still the most common method for playing music.
3) You can't play the music on any portable device that doesn't support Windows Media, meaning iPod owners can't transfer the music to their iPods.
EMI doesn't seem to understand that consumers want to take their music with them, not leave it on the computer. The #1 portable music player right now is the CD player, and iPod is #2. You can't have a viable competitor in the market if you cut off the top two music players, parading your DRM agenda. This service won't fly.
What artisits will there be? (Score:2)
just say "no" to stupid proprietary formats (Score:2)
There are companies such as Magnatune [magnatune.com] that'll sell you 100% legal (as opposed to "of questional legality" like AllOfMP3.com), DRM-free music, without ads, or a monthly subscription, or any other sort of nonsense. There are some really interesting artists there, too, and quite a wide range of music.
I don't work for them or get paid by them, I just think they'r
Tiscali has shut down it's online JukeBox (Score:3, Interesting)
"Why have you decided to shut down the service today? Because after going online in total accordance with the music industry and having it launched officially, thus letting our users access it with the characteristics we tested and fine-tuned, today the music industry forwards unexpected demands."
and
"Clearly, major labels do not understand the business potential that is behind a service like Tiscali Juke Box which, by acknowledging and paying the rights for all songs being listened to in streaming mode, allows the safeguard of the rights of the industry and the artists."
All I want to know is... (Score:2)
Qtrax developed by Brilliant Digital subsidiary (Score:2)
Personally, BDE left such a bad taste in my mouth from the sneaky way that they tried to do things that I won't give them a second chance to make a mess on my computer. Many people have made other valid comments regarding how this platform
Proprietary audio formats... (Score:2)
If you can hear it, you can capture it using such a program.
Their efforts won't accomplish anything.
Unless they require us to pay a licensing fee for having ears. With the gubment passing a lot of stupid laws lately, look for a lobbyist to "convince" someone to back-door this into another bill.
it always gets down to pricing (Score:3, Insightful)
DRM-alicious! (Score:2)
I am sure most
I'll just stick to
yet another format for the archeologists... (Score:2)
Proff that cocaine is bad for you (Score:2)
Honestly the ludicrous schemes that the record companies keep coming up with to stop people listening to "their product" are simply proof positive that overindulgence in cocaine rots your brain and makes you into a paranoid, vindictive, crazy egomaniac. In the future business schools will use all these awful schemes as examples of how to kill off your own industry.
But once again
Previewing Music (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This will only work.... (Score:2)
Quite frankly, it's amazing this blunder didn't completely bankrupt Apple.
Oh wait, we're living in reality, not in your delusional fantasy land where consumers care enough about such things to make any difference in profitability.
Re:This will only work.... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's fairly obvious that if a consumer wanted to buy various Beatles tracks, and they're not available from the iTunes store, they do care since they will have to find another source for the material.
Re:This will only work.... (Score:2)
As evidence for this claim, you assert that the most commercially successful music download service in the world does not have a wide enough selection.
Anyone with a basic grasp of logic can see that your argument is completely bogus. Would iTunes be even more successful if it had an even wider selection than it does now? Maybe. But the fact that there exists music which is unavailable on iTunes hardly mad
Re:This will only work.... (Score:2)
Of course, that just makes it even more rubbish than you thought, because it won't even play in devices that support WMA!
Re:Yes, but will it play on .... (Score:2)
Even more missing is Panasonic, Teac, Kenwood, Toshiba, Hitachi, RCA, Yamaha, Bose, Real, SONY,...
If it won't play in my living room DVD/MP3 player, Car CD/MP3 player, and flash portable MP3 player, it's DOA.
Re:Yes, but will it play on .... (Score:2)
Re:Indemnity (Score:2)
Still it's a nice thought: rent a song once, Get the Indemnity, upload said song to The Pirate Bay, begin talking like a pirate...