P2P service Qtrax inks publishing deal with Warner/Chappell

Qtrax, a company that stumbled badly out of the gate, appears to be on the road to recovery.

The legal P2P music service has signed a licensing deal with Warner/Chappell music publishing, according to a spokeswoman with Warner Music Group. The move comes a week after Qtrax inked a deal with Universal Music Group, the largest recording company.

If you remember, Qtrax was the company that claimed in January when it launched the site to have signed all four of the top music labels, only to see the companies deny such agreements existed. Since then Qtrax has continued to plug along at the negotiating table.

But the contract with Warner/Chappell doesn't mean Qtrax can start offering music from Warner Music. In the convoluted way music licenses are handled, an online music store must secure publishing and recording rights. In this case, the recording rights are of course owned by Warner Music and the company's spokeswoman had no idea when a deal might be reached with the fledgling service.