Problem for the solution
It turned out to be a terrible week at MIDEM for would-be saviours of the music business Qtrax.
The online start-up spent over £500,000 at the conference plugging their big idea to allow users to download more than 25 million tracks for free. What was being termed as the first legal fileshareing service would be funded by targeted advertising.
Unfortunately, deals with the various major labels, which control the bulk of those 25 million tracks, had not been completed, forcing Qtrax into a series of embarrassing climbdowns, as it became obvious that the big launch was something of a damp squib.
Even the presence of James Blunt at the Qtrax event at MIDEM was not enough to stop the rot.
Superb space for all the family and not an ugly people carrier in sight
8:48 pm
it’s a radical yet simple idea and therefore will take time to gain acceptance. i hope it does as it is a genuinely good idea.
here’s a thought. where can you but 2nd hand mp3s? you know, say you buy some music and then decide you don’t like it and want to bring it back.. where would you put it?!!!
now i’m obviously joking but the point i am making here is that digital music have practically no overheads for physical production yet the pricing of mp3s and cds is near enough on a par.
a good article here talks about why the recording industry ain’t happy with 2nd hand music sales in the physical world.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-record-shops-used-cds-ihre-papieren-bitte.html
Comment by Mark