No really, this time it’s real

Free music downloading service Qtrax makes a restart

By Hilke Heijmans

The in 2008 founded downloading service Qtrax failed after it didn’t make the launchdates. Now the service makes a restart and is working in eleven countries including the United States, Australia and Hong Kong.  A lot of crisitsm doesn’t make it a smooth ride for Qtrax.

Being from the generation X, I know a lot about the history of downloading. When I was ten years old (year 2000) I saw the first homemade CD with illegal music. It sounded weird to me, that it is possible. But now, ten years later it is normal to have all your music for free.

It’s not illegal, it’s normal

As I said before, I was 10 years old when I heard about downloading music. In that time you could only find the mainstream songs. You could not download a whole album but you had to download every song separately. It seems like madness now  but it was a great invention in that time. After years of debating whether or not downloading should be punished, we now don’t seem to care about those things anymore; it’s normal.

Qtrax is oldfashioned

So why should Qtrax now, in a time where downloading is like eating breakfast, strart up a free legal downloadingservice? Are people really waiting for this?

Even though I wasn’t aware of the problems in the time when Qtrax failed, I do see now why this is probably happening again.

Qtrax is not the most famous downloadingservice it’s also not the easiest one. When you want to download a song by using Qtrax, you first have to go through some steps.

The steps that are going to ruin Qtrax

-          First you have to download Microsoft Silverlight

-          Then download the special Qtrax musicplayer

-          After you have these thing you have to go to the Qtrax downloadingsite

-          Now you can try to find a song that you like and that is legel

Qtrax makes buying CD’s seem to be a more logical choice than downloading.

Downloading vs. streaming

In my opinion Qtrax is being silly and should have succeeded years ago when downloading was new and exciting. There’s no way that a downloadingservice can be as successful as in the old days. Especcially not this downloadingservice.  Because what is the issue now? We have Spotify! This is a streamingprogram, which means you don’t even have to download the music to listen to it. Forget CD’s, Torrentz, Silverlight, iTunes and mediaplayer; Spotify is the easiest way to listen to music for free without it being illegal or a hustle.

I think that Qtrax has to come up with something clever to make this work for them. Even downloading through Torretz is at risk in this moment because of Spotify and also moviestreamingwebsites. Let’s face it, we like things for free, but we like our free things to be easy. 

Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/business/qtrax-is-back-making-the-case-for-its-free-music-downloads.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/cyberclinic-we-dont-like-mp3s-ndash-we-like-the-sound-of-music-2360832.html

Wordbank

Rephrase             Herformuleren                 Iets opnieuw formuleren

Axe                     Bijl                                  Voorwerp om mee te hakken

Muffler                Geluidsdemper                 Apparaat dat geluid dempt

Recruit                Werven                            In dienst nemen

Appliance            Toestel                              Werktuig dat uit meer dan één onderdeel bestaat

Engulfed              Overspoeld                        Overstromen

Extinction            Uitsterving                          Wegsterven

Adaption             Aanpassing                         Een verandering

Extracted            Afgezogen                           Door toepassing van zuiging gasvormige stof verwijderen.

Venue                 Plaats                                 Een plek of locatie

Collaborations    Samenwerkingen                 Gemeenschappelijke werkzaamheid

Feted                  Gevierd                               Beroemd

Aesthetic             Esthetische                         Bijvoegelijk naamwoord/gevoelig voor het schone

Roster                 Rooster                              IJzeren traliewerk

Emerged             Naar voren                         Vooruit

Clarity                 Helderheid                         Doorschijnend/Duidelijkheid

Showcase           Vitrine                                Glazen uitstalkast                           

Nocturnal            Nachtelijk                          Bijvoegelijk naamwoord/in de nacht

Frenzied              Waanzinnig                         Een uitdrukking om een gevoel te versterken/heel erg leuk

Pealing                 Pellen                                 Techniek om huid of schil te verwijderen

Swoon                 Zwijm                               Onmacht/flauwte

Sigh                     Zucht                                Diepe uitademing waarbij je een zacht geluid maakt

Drain                   Droogleggen                      Water weghalen

Urge Gates         Dranghekken                     Hekken die iets om iemand moeten tegenhouden

Bricklaying          Metselen                            Met stenen en cement iets bouwen

Versie 1

No really, this time it’s real

Free music downloading service Qtrax makes a restart

The in 2008 founded downloading service Qtrax failed after it didn’t make the launchdates. Now the service makes a restart and is working in eleven countries including the United States, Australia and Hong Kong.  A lot of crisitsm doesn’t make it a smooth ride for Qtrax.

Being from the generation X, I know a lot about the history of downloading. When I was ten years old (year 2000) I saw the first homemade CD with illegal music. It sounded weird to me, that it is possible. But now, ten years later it is normal to have all your music for free.