Qobuz stands out as an outsider among the many streaming services. Its unique positioning in the audiophile segment, offering not just first-rate audio quality but a whole lot more, is sure to pique your interest. Qobuz: our review.
We will tell you more about this platform, which should convince many of you.
A bit of history
Qobuz was launched in France in 2007. The following years were chaotic, sometimes successful, sometimes penalized by increased competition from online streaming services, including Deezer, its competitor in the French market. In 2015, Qobuz was acquired by the Xandrie company, enabling the firm to continue to exist in a more saturated market than ever. 2015 was the year of upheaval: everything changed, and Qobuz moved to a Premium-only formula, with a higher price than its competitors, investing in a niche market, that of audiophile listeners.
Qobuz positioned itself as a high-end company.
Speaking to La Tribune, the CEO explains:
“Qobuz targets audiophiles and music lovers who love a particular genre of music. Only 25% of our subscribers opt for the entry-level offer – compared with 40% for our mid-range offer and 35% for our “prestige” offers with high resolution. We are, therefore, positioned on a CSP+ profile. Our audience is also older than our competitors.”
From the start, Qobuz had a clear vision that didn’t involve competing with the major players in the sector. Instead, they chose a different path. In 2019, the CEO of Qobuz told Musically, “We’re not in a race with the big guys. Our goal is to capture 1% of the market”.
In 2019, Qobuz invested in the United States and directly competed with TIDAL in the audiophile segment, raising two successive multi-million dollar financing rounds in 2019 and 2020. Propelled on the right track, Qobuz continues to grow and multiply its initiatives to penetrate an ever-larger market.
Qobuz: our review regarding prices and subscription
Qobuz offers two packages: the Studio package and the Sublime package, priced at $10.83 and $14.99, respectively. Each package is available as a Solo, Duo, or Family option. The basic Solo package is competitively priced and allows you to enjoy music in Hi-Res format. While more expensive, the Sublime package is an excellent choice for those who want to download the best audio-quality albums.
The difference with the Studio package is that it offers a discount of up to 60% on Hi-Res purchases. Depending on how often you download, the investment may be worth it!
In conclusion, the Qobuz offer is logical and flexible and should meet every need. Its basic layout doesn’t set it apart from its competitors but doesn’t penalize it either. A status quo (buz) – sorry for the joke, but we had to do it! -!
To discover the Qobuz plans, click here.
How much does Qobuz pay artists?
It’s often difficult to find information on streaming platforms’ pay-per-stream, and this is even more so when it concerns a platform whose user numbers are low compared to its competitors and which, therefore, doesn’t benefit from the same media attention as the others.
A reliable media outlet, Lalal.ai, published a recent study featuring Qobuz. In it, Qobuz is presented as the platform that best remunerates artists, just ahead of Napster and quite a way ahead of TIDAL, often presented as the most advantageous service in terms of remuneration. If this information is accurate, and we have no doubt it is, this is a considerable advantage for Qobuz over the competition. And it makes sense when you consider Qobuz’s promise to restore music and how it was conceived to its former glory. In particular, this means fairer remuneration for rights holders in a streaming business model that is often unfair to them.
Qobuz is multiplying its initiatives to help artists and support musical creation. During the first wave of COVID-19, Qobuz distinguished itself from its competitors by reversing 100% of the revenues generated by the first months of subscriptions to rights holders. Georges Fornay, CEO of Qobuz, told the website Loudersound:
“We believe in respecting the artists’ work by ensuring the quality we provide is as true to the original as possible. This is why we promote studio-quality music. We believe talented artists should get a fair chance for their music to be discovered with music curation and fair compensation.”
Qobuz: our review regarding its catalog
With over a hundred million references, Qobuz should satisfy most of you. There’s nothing wrong with the catalog of songs and albums. But you’ll have to pass if you’re a big consumer of podcasts, audiobooks, or video clips. For the time being, Qobuz doesn’t offer any on its application. A negative aspect that may make many of you decide to move on. After all, Qobuz is a platform entirely dedicated to music and nothing else. A commitment that inevitably involves a few sacrifices.
A significant bonus: if labels and artists have made the booklets accompanying the CD versions of their albums available, you can download them from Qobuz.
Qobuz: our review regarding user experience & algorithm
The Qobuz mobile app, with its simple and accessible design, is a comfortable and easy-to-navigate platform. With four navigation options at the bottom of your screen and a design that combines aesthetics and efficiency, Qobuz places the elements where they’re supposed to be, making your experience more than positive.
The best thing about Qobuz is its ergonomics, simplified navigation, and editorial content. Articles, interviews, reviews, analyses… Qobuz works like a real cultural newspaper. In a media world where music criticism and long-form content tend to disappear, Qobuz is an exception. It’s as if they were putting up a resistance. All this makes it possible to extend the listening experience and immerse oneself in articles written with brio by journalists renowned for their writing and analytical skills. At Soundiiz, we’re passionate about music and technology but are also interested in everything to do with our favorite albums and artists. So we’re big consumers of articles, books and interviews. Qobuz’s promise, therefore, resonates particularly with us, and we wanted to emphasize it. The “Magazine” section is prominently featured on the application in the second icon.
Music first!
A clear desire to put music, and nothing but music, back at the center of the equation. The layout is also uncluttered and aesthetically pleasing, highlighting the content.
There’s also a Qobuz Club, a community where you can connect with many other users who share your passions. The aim is to create a family-like feel around the platform, far removed from the sector’s behemoths.
Regarding the algorithm, Qobuz needs to reach the levels of its competitors to get the job done. But it would be dishonest to expect the same efforts from Qobuz as a company like Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music, which has invested millions of dollars in its algorithm and continues to push to stay in the race. Via the “My Weekly Q” playlist, updated every Friday, Qobuz suggests a list of songs based on your previous listening and preferences. The recommendations are mostly accurate, but you won’t be using Qobuz for its algorithm and its algorithm alone.
Qobuz: our review regarding audio quality
Audio quality is undoubtedly Qobuz’s main marketing argument. With TIDAL, it has positioned itself in the audiophile segment. And there’s no denying it: Qobuz is pulling out all the stops. Once the preserve of the most discerning, the audiophile segment has been gaining momentum in recent years. The reason? Streaming platforms are becoming increasingly standardized in terms of functionality and price. It’s time to find some differentiating factors. After many years on the sidelines, audio quality is making a comeback.
Proof of this can be found in Apple Music‘s recent efforts, which have paid off, and the criticism leveled at Spotify, whose HiFi version is constantly postponed. However, even if its competitors try to gain ground, Qobuz still seems to have a head start regarding audio quality.
Lots of choices
Three audio formats are available. The most basic and standard of these is MP3 (320Kbps). HD options are further divided into two formats. The “CD Quality” format (16-bit / 44.1kHz) and the “Hi-Res Audio” format (24-bit / up to 192kHz). As its name suggests, the CD Quality format promises listening quality faithful to that of a CD listened to in a CD player. To achieve this quality, Qobuz uses the FLAC format. This compression format reduces the size/weight of files without losing quality.
The Hi-Res Audio format, on the other hand, takes things a step further. The audio quality is superior to that of a CD and approaches that of a recording studio. This time, audio files are encoded in 24-bit rather than 16-bit to achieve optimum sound levels. It’s hard to find better audio quality on the market today.
A word of clarification: while all the songs in the Qobuz catalog are available in CD Quality, not all (but the majority) are available in Hi-Res audio.
As always, you’ll need premium-quality audio equipment for Hi-Res or CD quality to work properly. Listening to Hi-Res songs on entry-level headphones or speakers will have little effect. Perhaps it’s a worthwhile investment.
Among audiophiles, opinions are divided: many prefer the audio quality of Qobuz to that of TIDAL, while others find the American platform superior to its French competitor. For our part, we’re inclined to favor Qobuz. But it’s up to you to make up your mind. And you’ll see: once you’ve started listening to music in HD, it’ll be hard to go back to MP3 quality! At your own risk!
Qobuz: our review – Let’s sum it up!
It’s hard to give Qobuz anything but a positive review. The platform is all about audio quality and editorial content, and it offers a highly ergonomic and simplified interface. Joining Qobuz means accepting the joining of a kind of family and a community of enthusiasts. The company’s directors have no ambition to compete with the most significant structures in the sector but rather to dig a furrow in which they are solidly positioned.
On the other hand, if algorithm-driven musical discovery is essential to you and you listen to many podcasts, we wouldn’t advise you to subscribe to Qobuz. Also, if the price argument is critical, remember that Qobuz is slightly more expensive than other platforms.
Ultimately, it’s pretty easy to make your choice: unlike our reviews of other streaming platforms, the criteria for choosing Qobuz are objective and transparent. The service is quite different from that of its competitors. This is a strength for us but a weakness for others: choosing your side is up to you!
How can you make the most of Qobuz with Soundiiz?
It’s been said that Qobuz represents a tiny slice of the global streaming market. If the statistics are anything to go by, you’re not yet a Qobuz user but one of Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, or others.
But it’s also possible that, after reading our review, you’ll want to create a Qobuz account and test out what the platform offers. Then, you’ll inevitably come up against a problem: what to do with all the data you’ve accumulated over the years on your previous platforms? Are you going to lose it all? We know this is unthinkable.
That’s why we’ve designed our Transfer function, which is renowned for its precision and efficiency. Thanks to our tool, you can retrieve your albums, playlists, artists, and favorites directly from your Qobuz account in seconds from any platform. To find out more about the Transfer process, click here. To start transferring, click here!
But that’s not all Soundiiz lets you do. Creating SmartLinks, synchronizing playlists, generating playlists via Artificial Intelligence…the possibilities are almost endless! We have a single objective, which we’ve kept in mind since the beginning: to ensure you can enjoy your streaming platforms with complete peace of mind and make switching services easier.
To discover our subscription offers – don’t panic; Soundiiz is also free of charge – click here!
