Legal file-sharing service touts free music with ads

Klepfisz said the privately held Qtrax will help music companies by allowing fans to achieve a balance between the ease of use of a free P2P service with the need to compensate artists and songwriters.

Qtrax has deals with all four major companies including Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group.

To take advantage of the free but legal service, the user will need to download the Qtrax software which displays adverts while the user is searching and downloading songs.

The site will feature special sections including one called 'Last Night' where users can search for newly added tracks from live concerts that were recorded the night before. It will also feature music videos, artist documentaries, interviews, album reviews and biographies among other features.

Qtrax is not the first service to offer free songs for download with advertising support. Last September, SpiralFrog launched an ad-supported free service with music from just one of the major record companies Universal Music. It is still in talks with other labels.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)