This is pretty big news. It'd be bigger if we had assurance that we could cherry-pick track purchases the way they can in the UK and Canada. But I think that'll still be under the control of local laws, unfortunately. Desktop offlining is the real draw here. I currently sub to Spotify and Tidal. One of 'em's gonna have to go. I can't carry three services every month. That's just nuts.
Will I be able to purchase 16/44.1 FLAC downloads, if I choose, as a non-subscriber? Tidal allows that, though their prices are high.
7digital.com is much easier on the wallet if you're in the market for 44.1/16-bit downloads. It's also easier on you if you have to re-download something months later (and 7digital hasn't lost the rights). Tidal USED to allow up to 3 downloads per purchase, but for many months now it's been 1 shot and 1 shot only. I only buy from TIDAL if I have no other choice.
Spotify seems like the easiest to say goodbye to, but sometimes I find that I want to hear songs from the soundtrack of some show I just watched on TV - and lo and behold - some intrepid user (or the producers themselves) has assembled a playlist, even if it's not complete, and put it up on Spotify. I don't use the "social" elements of Spotify so much ("Hey! here's my playlist! What's yours?"), but sometimes I do want to hear the Best of the Year/Month as compiled by someone I trust. TIDAL just doesn't go there at all.
Oh, I use 7digital often. Sometimes, though, TIDAL has something they don't. I'm not concerned about re-downloading stuff. I backup my backups backups.
That's the only feature of Spotify I wish Apple had. But the saved track limit is a deal breaker for me.
1) There are a surprising number of things on one service and not the other. 2) We've been hearing forever how Tidal is this close from going belly-up, so I don't want to be left with nothing. 3) I spent what felt like years re-creating (almost) all of my retired Rhapsody streaming playlists... in Spotify.
Lately I've seen too much disappear from both Tidal and Spotify for my tastes however Spotify seems to still have kept a few more things than Tidal has. If you are on the Hifi tier of Tidal I understand not wanting to let it go. You could always use the free version of Spotify if you can stand listening to short commercials every so often and are fine with shuffle play only mode. Don't have all the info. about Qobuz yet so don't know if it will be worth using or not. A free trial would be worth using to check it out with at least. Tidal at least lets you incorporate your own files into it via Roon. Anyone know if Qobuz has a one's own file intergration of some kind?
FTA, Qoboz will be offering three tiers, including hi-rez without MQA. And desktop offlining. I can live with commonly available things disappearing - Bowie's people, e.g., will put something new up - for a while. I understand windows, I understand not giving away the store. What's frustrating is when a service yanks forever something that's old and hard to get and nobody is clamoring for, even if I wanted to spend the money. I personally feel a sharp drop in the value proposition when that happens. And just to pick an example out of the blue - Ty Segall is someone who seems to keep his newest stuff offline. It's his right, but ... just because I've bought your stuff in the past doesn't mean I'm doing it forever. And I'm not gonna stream your new album only in some release-week 24-hour window from some link at npr at a low bitrate or some crap like that. Stop wasting my time. We shall see.
Not interested in paying a streaming subscription for any reason. I would purchase redbook and hi-res. I hope they continue ala carte purchasing they offer non-US customers. Something tells me they won’t. Pono was the only hi-res purveyor that offered ala carte purchases for US customers. I’ve stopped looking at 7digital because invariably the music I want is only offered in lossy formats.
Qubuz Is Official Hi-Res Music Streaming Partner During RMAF 2018 Qobuz (pronounced CO-buz), a Paris-based online music streaming and download service for music lovers, has been named the Official High-Resolution Streaming Service for the upcoming15th Annual Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest (RMAF), the largest fall season high-end consumer audio show within North America. With the company making its official American launch in October, RMAF is the perfect venue for thousands of high-end audio enthusiasts to experience Qobuz quality. RMAF will be held in Denver at the Denver Marriott Tech Center from Friday, October 5 through Sunday, October 7. Qobuz is the highest resolution music streaming service in the world, providing users with the most in-depth and interactive music experience possible. Qobuz works on Mac iOS, Android, and Windows operating systems, and is already integrated with many of the most prestigious Hi-Fi brands. Subscribers also have access to the company's digital magazine, which is loaded with fascinating articles, music reviews, videos, and exclusive interviews. Thousands of digital booklets and exclusive news, all with expert curation, are always changing, and never dull. "Qobuz is a perfect fit for RMAF," stated Marjorie Baumert, Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest director. "They understand high-resolution streaming like no one else, and they know what music lovers want from such a service. Qobuz is absolutely the go-to site for music lovers to experience high-res audio the way it was meant to be heard. It is changing the online music game! We are thrilled to have them as part of the RMAF family." David Solomon, Qobuz chief Hi-Res Music evangelist, said "We are thrilled to be chosen as the official high-resolution streaming service for this year's edition of RMAF. It's a great opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to the American high-end audio community. We pledge our full support to this market, and appreciate its dedication to and fervor for this format. We welcome all – no matter their genre preference – who desire a phenomenal audio experience." Qobuz will be providing exhibitors with access to demo accounts to utilize, which will highlight the audio capabilities of their hardware. Attendees and other music lovers, will have access to free trial accounts so that they can experience the Qobuz difference.
From Qobuz-USA facebook page this morning: "Looking forward to our American launch. We'll have a soft launch in September and planning our hard launch at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Oct."
Currently in the middle of a trial, it's good and they have a great selection of unusual country and rock and roll. I bought a couple of Bear Family boxes for less than a tenner, bargain. Not sure I'll continue though as it is quite a pricey service, if you're a streaming person though it's worth a try.
I've been looking for a long term streaming solution and Qobuz might fit the bill. I like the idea of downloading hi-res files for my permanent collection. Will be attending RMAF to give it a listen.
Boxes for less than a tenner? As in, FLAC files you can download and keep separately from use in their app (unlike Spotify's "offline" feature)?
From Qobuz facebook page today: Opening the doors for US listeners very soon! New on Qobuz! Studio: the launch of the first monthly high definition streaming offer Sublime+: Qobuz's annual Hi-Res streaming + download offer has been reduced from 349,99 to 299,99 euros/year. More info Enjoy unlimited streaming of your music with Qobuz - 1 free month.
That's a pretty good price-point, since I personally find the discounts of the hi-res downloads within the Sublime plan to be over-hyped.
I am a long-term Qobuz Sublime subscriber and if you are into buying HiRes FLAC then I do not find the service overhyped. You have a to make a few purchases to make up the difference between Sublime and a monthly subscription. The purchases are always there to be re-downloaded in almost all formats. The prices can sometimes be half the HDTracks cost - if not less. Box set deals can be amazing. Just got the new Imagine box for £15.