It was a gala affair in Cannes this weekend, with the million-dollar launch of Qtrax, what was supposed to be the new face of file sharing. Everything was there, even Don Henley of the Eagles — everything, that is, but the music.

It seems the part of the equation that Qtrax forgot was to sign deals with the record industry. Spokesmen from the Big Four labels have scrambled over one another to get to the podium and announce they're not involved. Universal and Warner say they're in talks — Qtrax's CEO says the "ink hadn't dried" on their agreements — while EMI and Sony deny being involved entirely, despite Qtrax listing a deal with Sony on their press page. All this seems news to Qtrax, as their CEO is quoted as saying this morning "We do have industry agreements including the major labels."

We'll have to wait to see how it plays out, as the beta version of their software won't be released until midnight, and it'll be even longer before there are versions available for Mac or compatible with the market-leading iPod.

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