Qtrax, the world’s first free and legal P2P file-sharing network with the support of all four major record labels, EMI, SonyBMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, has officially launched today. This is a major event in music history as it sets a precedent for free music everywhere.
However, although their website officially launched today, their application is still in private beta, so we’ve still got to wait a little while longer to do legally, what we’ve always been doing 
I found on this on Read/Write Web, where they’ve highlighted the good and bad of Qtrax, so if you want to learn more about it go check it out, but I think the most important of all of this, is that it marks the changing of the industry.
Music artists now won’t be making most of the money from selling their music, they will be using their music to attract attention and celebrity, that then will set them up to make money via concerts, merchandise such as clothing, CD’s, etc, and however else they are able to harness the attention their music brings them.
We’re seeing the shift from the commoditisation of music to the commoditisation of attention in the music industry and I think if there is any proof that web 2.0 is changing the music industry, this is it.
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Isn’t there a limitation on the platform the music will play on? I seem to remember this is for Windows users only at first and you have to use a specific player. If my memory is correct, then the innovation is merely that the music is available over a peer sheering network. Other than that, it is nothing to get too excited about.
Yes, there are limitations as you say, but I can think of worse things than using their music player, Songbird, and although it’s only available PC now, Mac support will launched mid-March, which is just around the corner.
The worst thing they’ve got going at the moment is the DRM protection of their music, which I think could be a deal breaker for most people, but I believe this is early days for the company and things might change.
I don’t believe that the innovation is merely that the music is available over a peer sheering network, that isn’t an innovation at all. The thing that sets Qtrax apart and makes it the first of it’s kind is the fact that they have the support of the four major record labels. If you’re downloading music using any other other peer-to-peer file sharing network, you’re do it illegally.