Search Deal With Baidu May Be Far Less Than Qtrax Claimed

The missteps by ad supported music download site Qtrax are legendary. In 2008, the company held lavish parties at MIDEM to announce deals with all four major label groups that each label denied just hours later.  Since then, Qtrax has missed almost every self-stated deadline and in July of this year bounced a $1.8 million check to tech provider Oracle days before its official launch.

On Monday, the company held a conference call to proudly announce an exclusive deal with China's dominant search engine Baidu "to direct music related search inquiries from its Entertainment Portal, and Qian Qian Music Online sites to Qtrax…wherever Qtrax has the queried artist or song in its catalog".

But now an official spokesperson for Baidu says that the deal is far more limited than the Qtrax claimed, "The partnership with Qtrax regards text-based information, such as singer backgrounds; it has nothing to do with the music itself". Baidu also has a deal with Google for music and is expanding the relationship in other areas.