Qobuz

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For the ancient Kazakh string instrument, see Kobyz.

Qobuz is a French commercial music streaming and downloading service. It was founded in 2007 by Yves Riesel, expanded to a limited range of overseas markets, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain,[1] and launched in the US in May 2019. It offers a tiered subscription service and, like its competitor Tidal, provides free-of-charge streaming only for a trial period.[2]

In 2013, Qobuz received the Hi-Res Audio certification, awarded by the Japan Audio Society (JAS). This certification guarantees that the audio streams delivered by Qobuz meet the criteria and standards defined by the JAS.[3]

At the end of 2015, after a period of financial uncertainty, Qobuz attracted a new investor, which allowed the service to continue operating.[4][5]

In April 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 crisis, Qobuz supported artists by giving 100% of the revenue from each new subscriber’s first paid month back to the rights holders.[6]

On June 3, 2020, Qobuz announced the signing of a financial and industrial partnership with Quebecor, a Canadian leader in telecommunications, entertainment, news media and culture. QUB Music, a streaming platform launched in Quebec by the Quebecor company, was born out of this alliance.[7]

On June 15, 2020, Qobuz ended its MP3 quality streaming offer,  focusing instead exclusively on lossless streaming. All Qobuz subscriptions give access to high resolution quality (Hi-Res) and CD quality. However, MP3 listening is available as an option for conserving storage space or using less bandwidth.

In June 2020, the subscription offerings were increased with a family plan, Qobuz Family, which allows the customer to share six accounts among members of the same household.[8]

As of April 2021 Qobuz currently offers four plans: Studio Premier (Base subscription, monthly as well as annual with discount), and Studio Sublime (An annual-only subscription that adds a discount on downloads,) as well as Family variants, with up to six users, of each plan.[9]

Qobuz is available in 18 countries.[10]

Qobuz offers all music in MP3 at 320 kbps, CD-DA quality lossless (16-bit/44.1 kHz)[11] as well as hi-res quality lossless (up to 24-bit/192 kHz) for certain music;[12] downloads are offered in either WAV, AIFF, ALAC, and FLAC for hi-res quality, with lossless WMA also available for CD quality music only, and MP3, standard WMA, and AAC in 128 kbps or 320 kbps for lossy quality.[13] Qobuz and Tidal are the only available hi-res streaming services for popular music, as Deezer's HiFi plan includes CD quality at most, and Primephonic provides only classical music.

The streaming service can be accessed via a web player, or by using a desktop player for Windows and macOS; the Windows version may also work on Linux with recent versions of Wine. Qobuz also provides Android and iOS applications.[14] Qobuz is also provided natively on a range of High fidelity equipment such as Linn and Naim, as well as Roon,[15] and Sonos.

The company has a partnership with the British classical music magazine Gramophone, under which the magazine uses Qobuz to publish recommended playlists.[16]

Locations[]

Open in France since 2007, Qobuz extended its reach in December 2013 to eight European countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands then, in 2017, in Spain and Italy.[17]

In 2018, Qobuz was active in eleven countries. In 2019, Qobuz opened its subsidiary in the United States.[18]

On April 15, 2021, Qobuz made its streaming and downloading offers available in six new countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Australia and New Zealand.[19]

Application[]

The Qobuz application can be downloaded for free on the AppStore, Google Play. Accessible on mobile and tablet, it is also available on computer for Mac, PC and web player. The application allows listening to 30-second clips for free, however, a paid subscription is required to listen to full tracks. Users of iOS and Android smartphones can access the platform after signing up for a Qobuz Studio subscription. The Qobuz app is compatible with Google Cast/Chromecast built-in.[20]

Hardware[]

Qobuz streams lossless FLAC files, up to 24-bit/192 kHz, provided by labels, distributors/aggregators, and rights holders.[21]

Since January 22, 2019, Qobuz has been available for listening on Roon. An update in version 1.6 offers the best music experience to browse your music files and streaming services.[22]

Since January 15, 2020, UK HiFi specialist Naim Audio has been integrating Qobuz into its hardware for owners of the Uniti Atom, Star & Nova systems as well as the ND5 XS2, NDX 2 and ND 555 network players.[23]

In June 2020, a new update was made for the Mu-so 2nd Generation and Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation wireless systems.[24]

On March 24, 2021, Qobuz became the first music platform to offer high-resolution 24-bit audio streaming on Sonos, the world leader in connected wireless audio systems.[25]

Investment[]

In August 2019, the French platform raised €12 million from Nabuboto and the Quebecor Group. Qobuz recorded a +45.3% growth in its last fiscal year 2019-2020. In September 2020, the two historical shareholders, Nabuboto and Quebecor, renewed their confidence in the company by raising a further 10 million euros.[26]

Catalog[]

In 2021, Qobuz offers more than 70 million tracks in CD and "Hi-Res" quality (24 bits up to 192 kHz). All the tracks purchased are offered without any DRM restrictions.[27]

See also[]

  • Comparison of on-demand streaming music services
  • Comparison of online music stores

Notes[]

  1. ^ Beuve-Méry, Alain (19 August 2019). "Qobuz cherche à faire entendre sa voix aux côtés des grands du streaming". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Original 20 November 2014, updated 19 August 2019.
  2. ^ Cullingford, Martin. "The value of a recording is constantly changing". Gramophone (September 2014).
  3. ^ "Qobuz, the JAS, and the Myth of the High-Res Audio Logo – Real HD-Audio". Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  4. ^ "The latest news from your favourite online music service, Qobuz!". The Qobuz Blog. 19 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Xandrie SA: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. 27 January 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ April 2020, Becky Scarrott 15. "Qobuz is donating 100% of new streaming subscription revenue to rights-holders". whathifi. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  7. ^ "Qobuz partners with Canadian telco". High Resolution Audio. 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  8. ^ Editorial Staff (2020-06-25). "Qobuz Launches Family Plan Subscriptions". Part-Time Audiophile. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  9. ^ "Qobuz - Unlimited streaming offers - From £12.49/month". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Where is Qobuz available?". 27 April 2021.
  11. ^ "What is in the streaming catalogue?". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Qobuz - Discover and understand high-quality music with Qobuz streaming and downloads". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. ^ "What are the different audio formats available for download?". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Download Qobuz app: iOS, Android, Mac and PC". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Intégration Roon". 18 May 2021.
  16. ^ Jolly, James. "What a vintage!". Gramophone (December 2014).
  17. ^ Qobuz. "Qobuz, now available in Italy and Spain". The Qobuz Blog. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  18. ^ "Qobuz Comes to the U.S.A." The Absolute Sound. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  19. ^ Sparrow, Mark. "Hi-Res Streaming Service Qobuz Launches In Australia, New Zealand And Scandinavia". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  20. ^ "Qobuz - Your music everywhere with you". Qobuz. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  21. ^ "Qobuz review". SoundGuys. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  22. ^ "POPUP". help.roonlabs.com. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  23. ^ "Enjoy True High-Resolution Streaming with Qobuz". www.naimaudio.com. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  24. ^ "Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation Family Now With Support for Qobuz High-Resolution Wireless Music Streaming". audioXpress. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  25. ^ March 2021, What Hi-Fi? 24. "Sonos gets hi-res audio with Qobuz first to enable 24-bit streaming". whathifi. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  26. ^ "Hi-Res music service Qobuz raises $11m to fund global expansion". Music Business Worldwide. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  27. ^ Newman, Tom (2021-03-09). "How to distribute to Qobuz for free". RouteNote Blog. Retrieved 2021-07-21.

External links[]

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