I tried to search through this thread but it’s huge and I couldn’t find what I was looking for…
Has Roon stated their intentions for what they would do if TIDAL were to go out-of-business, with respect to license holders?
I am considering a lifetime license, but I only use a TIDAL library – I have no local files, and I don’t intend to use any. I’m a 100% streamer.
I realize that TIDAL’s fate is beyond Roon’s control, but Roon support has consistently maintained you should “buy Roon for what it does today, not what you hope it will do in the future” which I find completely reasonable.
One of the things Roon does today is play music from TIDAL. So if TIDAL were to go under, effectively removing core Roon functionality and making Roon of no use to me and anyone else who streams exclusively, how would Roon respond?
Buy today what you get and use today. But buying a lifetime license today is something for the future, too. So you should take into account whatever information you get about Roon’s future. Regarding streaming they seem to integrate Qobuz. This might be relevant to you as an alternative or a backup when Tiadal fails. When you only life for the day then buy a 1-month subscription only, you’re then free to move on with the lowest investment. Ok, Roon wants at least a 12 month commitment. Consider this! I’m a happy lifetimer.
Prorate a refund. If I buy a lifetime license today and TIDAL goes under two years from now, and Roon hasn’t integrated with another comparable streaming partner by then, prorate 50% of the license price. If it’s after the 50-month break-even point for lifetime-vs-yearly then there’s nothing to prorate.
Of course this should be optional, upon request, and would revoke the license.
That’s the idea that I’ve come up with. I’m open to other ideas, and I’m hoping that Roon has given some thought to this already.
That makes no sense. Buying a lifetime license is a gamble. If you don’t want to take that gamble, stick to the yearly license. Roon has no control over Tidal so saying that Tidal is core to Roon would be wrong. Tidal may be core to Roon for you, but that doesn’t make it so. Anyway, Qobuz integration is coming…
Please note that the lifetime license is a limited time offer that WILL go away at some point. I was more than willing to take that gamble since I hoping to use Roon for 10 to to 20 years.
I acknowledged that it’s a core feature for me, and not necessarily for other people. I also acknowledged that Roon has no control over TIDAL.
So, if someone buys a lifetime license and then a few months in Roon removes the ability to play local files, or play to multiple speakers, or view compositions, or do DSP, or any of the other number of features that Roon users rely on each day, that’s all good with everyone here?
Roon advertises that it works with TIDAL. If at some point it stops working with TIDAL, for whatever reason, then they’re no longer holding up their end of the agreement. It would be a tricky situation for Roon to manage, but it’s not hard to understand.
That’s currently what I do. If my subscription renewed, and Roon stopped working with TIDAL a month later, I would ask for an 11-month prorated refund.
What is Roon offering you today over and above Tidal by itself? Is it the infrastructure to play on different devices? You seem willing to buy annual subscriptions - so it’s doing something for you. Maybe the DSP capabilities?
I’m in the same boat - I stream 100%. I bought a lifetime subscription pretty much so I wouldn’t have to think about it again. Since then though I’ve subscribed to Qobuz as well and now find Roon limited in terms of streaming options (in essence on the road I’m not using Roon). I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Roon.
I don’t think the lifetime membership will disappear any time soon - I don’t think Roon has a critical mass of subscribers.
Figure out what it offers you today over Tidal and why you use it. And figure out how important it is to you.
For me it’s 100% about the interface for exploring the music I care about and am interested in, which is currently backed by TIDAL. TIDAL typically has several different versions of an album – Roon consolidates them into a single view, and lets me pick the format that I want to add to my library.
It identifies songs in my library as compositions, so I can find more music by those composers, and more performances of those compositions. It enables that same sort of exploration via producers and instrumentalists.
It lets me tag my music so I can mark certain albums for listening to later, or listen to albums from the divas that I’ve never heard before.
I’m a musicophile, not an audiophile. If Roon got rid of the DSP stuff, I wouldn’t notice.
The best case scenario for me personally would be integrating with Apple Music. It has the best library, and it’s not going anywhere. But, I understand why that hasn’t happened / may never happen, and I’m not trying to go there.
Roon provides the interface I want. TIDAL provides a library. If Roon replaced TIDAL with something comparable, I wouldn’t care.
It’s important enough that I pay a yearly subscription and am considering a lifetime subscription. My point in bringing up this question is, if Roon were to lose the advertised feature that prompted my purchase, would they make it right?
Frankly I hope it never comes up. I’m just curious if Roon has given any thought to what they would do if it did.
In the long run, I won’t be hurting for the couple hundred bucks that could go to waste. But I would also hope that a couple hundred bucks isn’t worth it to Roon to leave customers feeling burned.
Seems a pretty clearly stated benefit on your part. Thanks for that. I agree - the consolidating of versions is a neat feature. I’m off to see U2 tomorrow so was listening to them tonight and used the feature.
Qobuz seems like a pretty sure thing. There have been posts here about what happens if Roon folds (they’ll look after subscribers) but I don’t see the lifetime as being a clear case of “it equates to X months of use”. The lifetime membership is a bit like Kickstarter.
Personally I’m more interested in what happens if Roon gets acquired. Probably by a content provider.
I would love to have Roon as an interface to the largest library of music available in the world. Is that so surprising?
In any case, I said I understand that Apple Music hasn’t happened / likely won’t, and thus isn’t a factor in my decision-making.
Neat! That will be an effective backup / alternative to TIDAL. I am still curious to know about Roon’s official position on what they would do if they were no longer able to provide a streaming option.
That’s a good point, and at least gives some insight into their general approach / intent. So, I can speculate that maybe they would be helpful in a one-on-one case. And again, hopefully with TIDAL and Qobuz integration it won’t matter at all.
It seems a handful of people in this thread are okay with some Roon users being left out in the cold, so long as it isn’t them. While that’s not a mindset I agree with, I’m hopeful that it’s one Roon doesn’t agree with either.
Yep and that’s apparent in their policy of not accruing yearly licenses toward a lifetime license.
Anyway, I am curious what Roon has to say on this matter… the rest of us are just speculating.
I don’t believe it’s in Roon’s business plan to hold someone’s hand through their [Moderated] fears.
You pays your money, you takes your chances. [Moderated]
I’ve never seen any money back guarantees in any of Roon’s literature
.
No matter what [Moderated] might be planned, I don’t think you would to get any response about any refunds on yearly or otherwise.
[Moderated]
Maybe Spotify or Amazon music is better for you, or you can just stick with Apple.
In your case the annual membership is the probably the better play. I’m sure Roon would work on a suitable streaming partner, but you can’t count on things happening until they happen.
Roon with 0 streaming parters would have a pretty big hole in their business model. It would be in their interest to find a replacement - so if it did happen it would be pretty short lived before they replaced them.
