Qtrax, a digital music company promising the first free legal downloads, has missed another launch deadline, just as it is seeking $50m to tide it over until it can break even.

The group, whose first launch announcement in 2008 turned into a high profile fiasco and which had promised an October 29 relaunch, said last Monday that it would open in Australia three days later, kicking off an aggressive plan to roll out in nine Asian countries in as many weeks.