Record companies: From today, feel free to download another 25 million songs, LEGALLY
 

Better late than never, I suppose.

What do you guys think about the music industry reportedly turning a new leaf in relation to P2P music sharing:
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From The Times

January 28, 2008

From today, feel free to download another 25 million songs - legally
Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent, in Cannes

After a decade fighting to stop illegal file-sharing, the music industry will give fans today what they have always wanted: an unlimited supply of free and legal songs.

With CD sales in free fall and legal downloads yet to fill the gap, the music industry has reluctantly embraced the file-sharing technology that threatened to destroy it. Qtrax, a digital service announced today, promises a catalogue of more than 25 million songs that users can download to keep, free and with no limit on the number of tracks.

The service has been endorsed by the very same record companies - including EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music – that have chased file-sharers through the courts in a doomed attempt to prevent piracy. The gamble is that fans will put up with a limited amount of advertising around the Qtrax website’s jukebox in return for authorised use of almost every song available.

The service will use the “peer-to-peer” network, which contains not just hit songs but rarities and live tracks from the world’s leading artists.
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Link to full article:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co...icle3261591.ece

Still don't understand why it took so long; is it just that big corporates are inherently slow to see and embrace obvious trends?