Not even that in some countries, Qobuz have yet to discover the equator, and darkest Africa 
Exciting times. $297 M in a mix of cash and shares with Jay-Z joining the board of Square. Itās not a cash out situation. Looks more like a recapitalisation of Tidal with Jay-Z and Jack agreeing to work together. Hopefully they can figure out how to get more of the payments by consumers into the hands of artists.
1 Like
Just a pity that JAY-Z and his buddies can still mess up thereā¦
I hope they get him fired soon.
1 Like
Phew, what a busy week!.. Roon 1.8, Spotify lossless, and now this. Whatās next?
1 Like
Never mind the equator, Qobuz have yet to discover the 49th parallel 
. Their business model is a complete mystery.
2 Likes
If things go this way itās clear that, to keep streaming customers, Roon will have to make use of the Connect facilities of Spotify and Tidal. Iām assuming that they could still offer the integrated multiroom and DSP features. They would then have to market themselves as a sort of enhanced Connect service. Whether or not thereās a big enough market for this is another matter.
Danny has already said Spotify wonāt happen as they have no interest. They only want users to use their app period they are not going to reduce Roons UX to use Spotify connect so forget it. Amazon more or less same boat.They approached them but they are not interested. If you want all the services and and a separare UX for each one, just look at how Bluesound works itās an unwholly mess.
You would not be able to have more than one user use Roon at the same time though with one account which is possible now. It would force everyone to have family accounts, perhaps a move they might make anyway to get revenues up. Doing full multiroom would be interesting to see using connect, is it even possible, can Sonos stream to a group using Connect?
Itās good news that Tidals future is at least secure, there is room for other services outside of the big ones, just look at how many video streaming services there are. Whilst I no longer use Tidal happy itās got a more robust future. I hope they donāt go down Spotify or Amazon route of limiting access to their own app.
Yes, after I posted I thought that multiroom might be a step too far. I would have though that, at the very least, Roon could offer a single integrated system with multiple endpoints and DSP (using Connect). I suppose the question, again, would be whether or not this adds enough value on to what Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect already bring.
Software and digital media are so volatile that once a big company decide to move on or change some feature thereās a domino effect on other companiesā¦see iPhone/Nokia, digital cameras/Kodak, Netflix/Blockbuster.
We donāt know what this Tidal/Square will bring to the table in the future neither Spotify Hi-Fi but my 2 cents here are that Roon simply serves to better navigate and organize other libraries (local or streaming) and it doesnāt provide any content.
I moved to Tidal only because Spotify didnāt have hi-fi option and then to Roon to stream that, then I added some local files too, but the Spotify app is by far the best piece of software out there, probably in the whole App Store + radio, recommendations and so on are superb.
My point here is that, probably, the working business model Roon have in place NOW, will not work in the future as well and like the examples mentioned above here, you can choose to adapt or slowly die.
1 Like
That would mean running an instance of connect for each endpoint. Itās not really designed for connecting to a server though. LMS got a plugin to do this so itās possible but not sure what its value is at all when devices all ready use connect.
If there is no aggregator software then like video itās going to be a right old mess. There is definitely a need for software like Roon to aggregate services into one coherent app but if they stop access to said services then its back to being jriver with a modern UI. This would also kill every other music app that integrates them not just Roon.
Totally agree. The reason i went to Roon was:
- Library Management
- Seemless integration of ālocalā library and collected (Qobuz) streams.
Thats why I feel somewhat puzzled why Roon feels the need to move the āPopularā route. If I wanted to use something that is āpopularā, I wouldnt use Roon. plenty more popular options around.
But instead of strenghtening those core skills, Roon with 1.8 is actually moving away from them. When I search for something, instead of seeing first what is in my library, I need to weed thru pages and pages of āPopular thisā, āTop thatā, āNotable somethingā before I get to see whats already there and then maybe follow up from that.
With all these latest moves in the industry, I hope Roon re-thinks what its real reason for being really is.
10 Likes
- nope, quite the countrary
- nope, contra Tidal, thereās almost no value in Qobuz. theyāre almost fully dependent on the french government.
- nope, there is another path.
But credit where credit is due; 1.8 introduced some pinteresting deep-linking recommendations based on producers, labels, writers, etc. Music geeks find music this way and Roon makes it easier. Surfacing this info and bringing it to the forefront is already a differentiating strategy than that of other music streaming apps that would like you to rely on their recommendation engine for discovery.
To your point; Iād like to see more of this strategy from the Roon product team 
3 Likes
I completely agree @bbrip
I pay for Roon to help me enjoy my existing, purchased music and manage streaming at the highest possible quality/convenience depending on my listening circumstance.
The integration of Tidal (or Qobuz - do not use that one) is a very nice to have, but not essential for me. However, I do find the Roon Radio/Valence suggestions are much better than anything Iāve experienced with any of the streaming services.
However, Iād much prefer to get more recommend tracks from my own purchased music library pushed at me. I also preferred Roon when it majored more on my own library. The only way I know how to control this is by logging out of Tidal from time to time. Which is a shame/hassle.
If Tidal disappeared from Roon, it wouldnāt bother me all that much. But while either Tidal or Qobuz are still with Roon and Valence still works great, I am going to make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasts. Which probably isnāt going to be all that long.
3 Likes
Iām told yes for SONOS. I can confirm that LMS has an implementation of Spotify and Spotify Connect, and it works streaming (synched) to multiple players in a household.
1 Like
I know that but itās not something that can be used in a commercial product not would it fit in Roon.
1 Like
Iād just prefer to listen to music, rather than being swamped by adverts for merch etc.
1 Like