A K - the majors are in business for one thing: to make money. As much money as they can. The past few years have been horrible for them. They've been doggedly trying to stand in the exact same position while the sand shifted between their feet. Now they are grasping at anything that they can hang on to so that they don't sink (and they won't).
Now, since they've finally realized that the sand will not stay still for them, they are casting a wide net, because in truth, they really don't know which model is going to bring them the most stability, and the most amount of money. That's why you are hearing news of all these different models for music distribution. My personal feeling is that there will be room for about three or four viable approaches, and the rest will go by the wayside.
I believe that there will be different "profiles" of music consumers, and some will prefer to download and actively manage their libraries, other's will prefer streaming (as with a real radio station), other's will want to own DRM-free music, and some won't change their iTunes/iPod habit, simply because they don't like to change what works (too much trouble).
Qtrax's stated goal is to dominate the p2p market and convert the illegal downloaders into legal downloaders. This demographic is, by far, the largest of all the groups who consume music. Take this world-wide, and you have a MASSIVE number of people using the service. That's a powerful platform for advertising, up-selling, and yes, even selling the CD's, clothing, tickets, and so forth to this large audience.
Qtrax is where I'm putting my money. I bought some more today at .04 (was happy to get filled!). I'll probably be buying some more early next week.
As for the 2 major announcements - I haven't heard anything, but will check again with my sources to see if I can get any info out of them. I can tell you their mouths have been like closed clam shells on anything specific. BUT, the hints and smiles have definitely been there. It wouldn't surprise me if there were announcements.
I've repeatedly been told: "It's not a matter of IF. It's a matter of WHEN."
PS: as for the go-cart analogy, I would put "if you are close enough to read this on my bumper, it's because I LET you read it. Now eat my dust!"
Just my opinion!
-KTF.
