p2pnet view Music | P2P:- “All the big players have been struggling to become the first to offer unlimited downloads of free MP3 songs” but ZapTunes promises it’s “emerged as the winner of this race, with a partnership with most of the record companies.”

“Unlimited” downloads of free MP3 songs. That describes the P2P networks and many indie sites and services. But a “partnership with most of the record companies”?

If one thing has marked the total failure of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s efforts to establish themselves online, it’s their flat refusal to have anything to do with anyone except themselves. To them, “honesty” and “openness” and “innovation” and “competition” are dirty words. Result? There is no online corporate music business.

Now ZapTunes says it’s “the first website ever to offer free and unlimited music downloads to its members”. Well, not really. “Free and unlimited music downloads” were what prompted the Big 4 launch their disastrous, and failed, RIAA sue ‘em all anti-consumer campaign.

Not only but also, states the company, “There is NO LIMIT to how many songs you can download. Download as many songs as your hard-drive/IPod/MP3-player can hold!”

And in the ‘Free’ promo offer, it claims to have “the biggest online music catalog, with more than 8 million songs – all in MP3 format and free from any DRM restrictions. And the most important part – it is 100% legal, and plays on all MP3 players and iPods.”

But there’s a but. “The free trial is only for seven days”, says ZapTunes. After that, “the monthly subscription fee is twenty five dollars per month, which will be automatically billed to your credit card after the trial and each month until you cancel your membership.”

And you need a credit card to register to get the ‘free’ trial.

How come?

“This is a requirement set by most of the label companies we are working with. They just want us to have a credit card number on file for every member that signs up, in case if they want to start charging for downloads in future. This is least likely to happen, however, in case it does happen, we will let you know at-least 2 weeks in advance so that you can cancel you membership and not be charged.”

How long will this amazing free, all-you-can-eat offer last?

“As soon as we have our first 10,000 members, this promotion will expire.”

Meanwhile, “”EMI Group is already drafting the legal paperwork against this shenanigan,” says Digital Music News, quoting an unnamed source, “while another noted that ‘fireworks [are] coming soon’ if Zaptunes persists”.

Both sources “wished to remain anonymous, given the sensitivity of the situation”, says the story, going on, “An EMI representative was not able to immediately confirm the actions, though a formal statement could be forthcoming.”

And “Right now we are unable to provide further details about the licenses,” Zaptunes told Digital Music News.

Stay tuned.

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ZapTunes – Now Download Free and Unlimited Music – Stop Paying For Each Song, August  26, 2010
Digital Music News – Sources: EMI ‘Already Drafting Legal Paperwork’ Against Zaptunes … , August  30, 2010

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 9:11 am and is filed under Music, P2P. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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