San Jose, Calif. - Qtrax, the developer of a free, ad-supported music download service, has reached a deal to license Universal Music Group's catalog, the company's first major label signing.

New York - Qtrax, the developer of a free, ad-supported, peer-to-peer song-sharing service, on Wednesday announced a new licensing agreement with Finetunes. The deal will bring tracks from the more than 1,000 German independent labels that Hamburg-based Finetunes represents.

New York - Qtrax, a company developing a free, ad-supported, peer-to-peer file-sharing service, announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement to include the catalog of U.K. independent label network Beggars Group. The deal includes tracks from artists on labels including Beggars Banquet, 4AD, XL Recordings and Matador Records. The company also recently signed deals with EMI Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and TVT Records.

DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

In my column last week, I predicted that there may be a silver lining in Yahoo’s recent troubles and low share price in the form of a possible takeover bid from rival Microsoft. Voilà! In a bold move that sent ripples through Silicon Valley before sunrise on Friday, Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced that it has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid

Cannes, France - Qtrax this weekend announced the launch of what it claims is the first legal peer-to-peer file-sharing service with tracks from all the major labels, although all of the majors have since stated that they have not licensed Qtrax -- and the service remains offline, according to reports. Qtrax said that it would offer between 25 and 30 million tracks, giving it the largest library of any legal online music service.

New York - Brilliant Technologies, which is developing an ad-supported, legal peer-to-peer music download service called Qtrax, has now secured licensing deals from all four major labels and will launch its service in October, the New York Post reported on Monday.

New York - A number of former executives from SpiralFrog, which is developing an ad-supported legal media download service, announced on Monday the formation of Rebel Digital, a new advertising consultancy focused on the digital music space. Rebel Digital's management team includes former SpiralFrog CEO Robin Kent and chief marketing officer Lance Ford. The company said it has signed Qtrax -- which is also developing an ad-supported music download service -- as its first client.

New York - Qtrax announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with major label Sony BMG, to add the label's catalog to its ad-supported, legal peer-to-peer music service.

New York - Brilliant Technologies Corporation, a developer of an ad-supported, peer-to-peer music service, announced on Monday that it has licensed tracks from U.K. independent record label V2 Music for distribution on Qtrax. New York-based Brilliant Technologies has also licensed tracks from EMI, Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV Publishing, Universal Music Publishing and The Orchard for sale through Qtrax.