Qtrax Lands “Bewildered Betty Award” for Announcing Deals with Major Music Labels Before Said Agreements Are Signed

Major PR faux pas by Brilliant Technologies puts future of nascent free music download service — QTRAX — in serious doubt

Can you think of ANY reason why a company would ever want to “announce” it had closed deals with one or more major partners at a HUGE industry event without having such deals actually signed?

Me neither.

Amazingly, that’s apparently what happened this past weekend at the MIDEM music conference held in Cannes.

According to media reports from around the globe, New York-based Qtrax — a subsidiary of Brilliant Technologies (Pink Sheets: BLLN) — spent close to £500,000 to host a launch party that featured such recording artists as LL Cool J and James Blunt and was designed to promote the “fact” that Qtrax was going to announce Monday it had

• Signed deals with the four largest music labels – EMI, Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group; and that
• These deals would provide more than 25,000 free downloadable songs for users of the new free ad-supported QTRAX music download service.

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Congratulations Sen. McCain?

Our fellow pr practitioners at the Michigan Republican Party made a major goof tonight. I mean, really, congratulating the wrong candidate? Their explanation…they simply pushed the wrong button.

Full story at LA Times.