[All Platforms][Music] HiFi Quality - Lossless Streaming 16bit 44.1khz

[timiambeing]

I've just started a trial of Qobuz - they offer the standard 320kbps as well as lossless FLAC streaming (and high res downloads if you purchase them) the sound quality is noticeably better and on classical it's just wonderful to get all that resolution through your hi-fi or headphones! The catalogue has a way to go to get to Spotify's level, but they are getting there. The iPad app isn't' too bad (the desktop app is in need of an upgrade but I hear they are putting all their efforts into mobile apps right now).

So - lossless streaming - if Qobuz can do it then so can Spotify, they must have the same source - and obviously if you are asking £20 a month then those record labels and distributors take enough notice to make the high res tracks available for streaming. What this all means is soon, very soon, we will get lossless streaming and closely followed by high res downloads - but if Spotify aren't careful it will be Apple who get there first with an audiophile premium offering, and when they do it will be a much harder market place to make money in!

** please don't lump this suggestion with the main one on lossless downloads, that's a different idea entirely guys!

[timiambeing]

I've just started a trial of Qobuz - they offer the standard 320kbps as well as lossless FLAC streaming (and high res downloads if you purchase them) the sound quality is noticeably better and on classical it's just wonderful to get all that resolution through your hi-fi or headphones! The catalogue has a way to go to get to Spotify's level, but they are getting there. The iPad app isn't' too bad (the desktop app is in need of an upgrade but I hear they are putting all their efforts into mobile apps right now).

[timiambeing]

So - lossless streaming - if Qobuz can do it then so can Spotify, they must have the same source - and obviously if you are asking £20 a month then those record labels and distributors take enough notice to make the high res tracks available for streaming. What this all means is soon, very soon, we will get lossless streaming and closely followed by high res downloads - but if Spotify aren't careful it will be Apple who get there first with an audiophile premium offering, and when they do it will be a much harder market place to make money in!

[soboyle]

Please do not talk to me, Audioplayer. 

[LawLee]

Spotify continues to do damage control on the Rogan/Young issue in the media. Daniel Elk himself released a statement on Sunday as their market valuation and reputation continues to erode.

Boy, if they had put this kind of energy and attention on their missed promise of HiFi, think about what happy campers we would be!🙃

[Zorq]

Damage control is quite difficult at this stage. 

I see people reacted quite firmly and emotionally, but I don't know how much Spotify can do on censoring content, given the contracts. I don't listen to podcasts at Spotify, only to music, so I don't care. I am also **bleep** off by blunt anti-vaxxer arguments, but to leave Spotify because someone made a podcast with  that topic is IMHO overreaction. You can't just cancel the discussion, you can only isolate it. Now is isolation good? I don't think so. IMHO the only way out is education, verifiable information, building trust.

In Sweden you can talk about everything, if all viewpoints are given a fair and equal chance. 

However, nowadays more and more things become taboo, and if you touch it, you become impure and face the wrath of the self-justified. Wait, from where that sounds familiar?

So I don't blame Spotify on this, but I don't know the details. Maybe they could do more - I just don't know. But I know that such discussion would be perceived with less rigidity in Sweden, so it may be a cultural misunderstanding.

About the Hifi tier, what the status update from Spotify says, in corporate speech usually means they have a pilot on it, so they might be well working on it. I take it at face value. "No timing details to share yet" means they didn't reach the testing/confidence level required for that kind of communication. Again, in corporate planning, this might mean they are a few months away from the announcement (given the comm), or it might also mean they just decided they had to say something, but it could take this year or more to make it.

[Sergjjii]

@soboyle, strange. It's better to listen to the old stuff than the new chippy stuff. And this is the opinion of most people. If the service loses mastodons, most people don't need such service, they need the service where they listen. Spotify probably thought that way too, let him go, if Neil is replaced, there will be 10 others and no one will notice. But the statistics of how the service began to lose money says one thing, people love their idols and follow them. And people have no problem to cancel subscriptions they had for 10 years or more. Moreover, there are competitors and they look in some aspects much more interesting than the green ones).

[Gonzo6]

OK! You plan it for the future, without any defined times.

Best is for customers to cancel their premium account payment and come back, when You no a timeframe.

Other streaming services have that service!

[LawLee]

Why did Spotify choose Joe Rogan over Neil Young? Hint: It’s not a music company. (inquirer.com)

The bottom line: Podcasts are more lucrative than music.

When we recognize that, folks can move on to a company that is interested in serving music in the way that they're interested in. It might seem counter intuitive but leaving Spotify is the best thing you can do to help them get their head out of the sand and provide Hifi.

Continued use of their service just props them up and gives them no incentive to change. As was mentioned there is no long term commitment to using their service. And they are certainly showing their commitment, or rather lack of it to the artists and the users that provide them value.

[Sergjjii]

@LawLee, That explains why the Greens didn't deliver on their promises they don't care what promises they made as long as it doesn't make a profit and then there's the loss. So it is possible to screw over all their users. Spotify in simple words are just regular businessmen, for whom music is first of all money and not art. Greens are using both users (siphoning off money for subscriptions) and artists, siphoning off their labors and not paying them extra money in the process. I hope more people will cancel their subscriptions and go to companies that do not put profit first.

[BertH1]

Hi everybody and HiFi fans ; Neil Young is absolutly right; Neil Young has taken to his own website to let his fans know that his music is no longer on Spotify, and that he wants them to keep on rocking in hi-res. On his website, Neil Young Archives, Young said: “Amazon has been leading the pack in bringing Hi-Res audio to the masses, and it’s a great place to enjoy my entire catalogue in the highest quality available. ” 

[Sonos_Steve]

Qobuz also have the Neil Young catalogue. Much of which is higher-res than CD.

 

[LawLee]

Amazon and Apple are exploiting this current situation. Spotify is slow to react but these companies are like cheetahs chasing a gazelle. At every turn they are aggressively taking advantage of any missteps...

Someone noted that Apple also had a similarly highlighted section.

Qobuz is a very responsive service. They generally respond in a day or so with highlight pages on the deaths of music industry professionals. No word so far about this current situation Spotify/Young kerfuffle. I like their focus. In all things, they show themselves a class act.