NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Qtrax, a new online music website is set to debut, offering free access to a catalog reported to contain 20-30 million copyrighted tracks is set to launch. The kicker is that the service will have the full support of the majors, including EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
According to the New York Post, the download services will be free for consumers, entirely supported by advertising and sponsorship.
"Consumers clearly aren't willing to pay for music, but advertisers are the one group that still will," Brilliant Technologies CEO Allan Klepfisz told the Post.
The downloads will be in an MPQ format – it is unclear if this will be a proprietary type of data compression of if they will be using the archiving file format developed by game developer Blizzard, also named MPQ. It seems likely that the file format used must be compatible with current portable MP3 players if it is to meet wide acceptance with consumers.
The website is set to launch in October of this year. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
