Qobuz price reduction (UK)

Not if Austin Powers gets there first! :innocent:

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(Obligatory grumble about still not being able to get Qobuz in Canada, at any price. Was hoping they’d speed things up to lock in some Canadians prior to Spotify getting their hifi tier going - assuming THAT will premier in Canada - but apparently not. Very frustrating.)

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I used to travel for work a lot, and was rarely resident in any one country for any significant time.
Use of VPN and PayPal to sign up to online services using whatever (often very temporary and tenuous) address I could (hotel, apartment, office, site etc.) really saved my sanity during some trips to challenging places.
The main thing was that the content became available (often the only non-local content I could access), and the provider got their revenue, - there was never any issue and everyone seemed happy.
I guess legally, I can’t and shouldn’t endorse that practice - just to say that it goes on, and it worked for both me and the providers at the time.
Hope that helps.

I got the notice and it did not even say it was a price Reduction ! I had to look at my account to see the old price and that it was indeed.

The email title was “New pricing” and I initially though that the price was going up. I’m so used to getting similar emails from Netflix, Sky TV etc. that I automatically assume an upwards trajectory.

I too got on the new price plan. I paid for annual in July. Seamless with CS on chat. Seems they already have a process in place for people that ask.

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Lower prices mean more customers, more customers mean more stability, it’s common business sense. If the record industry would have priced CDs at $5 vinyl would never have come back, greed is the answer to all business questions; especially Apple (hey wasn’t that a Beatles brand LOL) There is no connection between the two events except in your own mind; that’s how it works!

Competition strengthens the market and promotes new technologies. The heart of a business model only stops beating when the big one simply swallows the small one, destroys the prices and then shuts down this technology. I wish competition wasn’t always fought on the basis of price. I wish there were niche markets for classical music and jazz, for example. I wish there was a better payment system for streaming.

Qobuz would never have lowered their price if AM hadn’t decided to offer hi-res at 9.99 €/$. This is a question of staying competitive or rather: of having a chance of staying competitive. Whether they’ll be able to attract new customers remains to be seen. Few people are willing to pay substantially more for basically the same product (except Tidal users, apparently). Let’s hope that Qobuz made the right business decision. If not, they’ll fold. Who cares? There will always be other streaming services. It’s not as if Qobuz provided a stellar product without which the world would be poorer.

My experience with AM before Hi-Res was it sucked. The player and everything about it. Been through the Tidal hippidiehoppidieinyourface ride (hey where’s the harmonies man) and MQA ain’t what it’s cracked up to be, and it’s expensive (I also don’t care for their politics :^). There is however a gap for the streaming hardware side being able to tap into AM thus far, I have a Pro-Ject streamer that is nice and Qobuz or roon ready, and I have not heard roon step up to AM if even allowed by JB (stupid cowboy hat and all). Qobuz has been the Switzerland in the middle choice with good value (stellar or not). Remains to be seen, in USA we see multiple streaming listings for listening to samples that don’t include Qobuz, so that’s kinda f’d, but I’ve always been the outsider. So same product remains to be seen. Most audiophiles that I know don’t like the sound of streaming, with all the up sampling etc. it’s too sterile. I’m super old school and just ripped a pristine copy of the English version of Rubber Soul that was given to my sister in the box set in 1978, with the proper Shibada Nud stylus and sound system this is how that type of music is supposed to sound. Just try to get the English pressing anywhere on AM; like to see that happen (not). Been known to say that streaming services are best for trying out stuff and then finding the vinyl version (sacd if that’s your bag) and getting the real deal in your archive. With affordable software suites like Samplitude X3 recordings of vinyl can be mastered to bit depth expansion of 192/32 bit floating point or even 384/32bfp (if your really into no digital noise) which is very pleasant when compared to the vinyl directly played experience. Nicer interface, and you can remove vinyl defects easily. So hey go and get your whatever latest over mixed, over mastered, limited choice AM offerings if being cheap is all you care about, but really, even Qobuz doesn’t really offer the original mixes on much music anymore, and definitely not in the Hi-Res formats very often. As for popular music and getting it cheaper I guess this price war thing might be where it’s at, but after you’ve heard programmed drums for the last 35 years everything sounds the same because it is (well except for Jazz (real drums) and CW (real drums and electric guitar [remember electric guitar?])). Cheers Posiedon77 you rock brah!

I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to say, except that streaming sucks anyway. Maybe you’re right, maybe not. I happen to like streaming - wonderful choice and, to my old ears, very good quality. When I want to experience music in its purest form, I attend concerts. I spend 2000-3000 € a year on live concerts; that’s a lot of concerts, as best seats only cost c. 100 € (for a symphonic orchestra), much less for chamber music. This is also how I support artists, which helps me not feel guilty about streaming. Next one up is Gergiev conducting the Munich Philharmonic (Brahms’ D minor piano concerto, with Igor Levit, and Bruckner’s sixth symphony).

Are those 24/192 seats, or 16/44 ones? :sweat_smile: Can’t beat live, that atmosphere can’t be digitized.

This is the sad reality, it’s produced for the masses, not necessarily the discerning listener.

Depends on the ethernet cable and switch I’m connected to. :laughing: