I’m sure they are extremely happy to host it all multiple times. But, as thin as the margins are in streaming, it would make sense to look at cheaper ways of hosting. If that model also offers benefits such as single point of fixing metadata that is distributed to services, bonus.
And with MQA involved that single repository of music for everyone will be MQA?
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Good question. Single repository does not imply single format. It will be whatever the content creator wants to deliver within a specification of approved formats, where MQA among the other usual suspects is one.
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I think the main problem (storage wise) is the imbecility of having the same track stored by each service on its own (the same 16/44 on both Tidal and Qobuz is stored separated for example, same for each title on both Amazon and Netflix and so on). And it’s the same for the personal music files stored in the cloud, there must be thousands of copies of the same identical content all over the place, though for movies for example VUDU may be a good example of a little bit of digital sanity…
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I don’t think even mqa think of mqa as an archive format. It’s a distribution format.
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You think rightly 
Now that I’m done with the snark, a more serious question - since there’s so much emphasis put on the energy savings, what are the numbers for that ?
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Something more or less proportional with the number of Roon Cores working 24/7? 
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A repository like this would allow Roon to support more streaming services. Vivit would have metadata and they would need to know which files (music) each service has licensed. Roon could theoretically get the data they need from Vivit instead of needing each streaming service to provide them an upload.
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Is that the reason for use of all the “right” words like “sustainable” and such? Makes me think of “global cooling” eh… “global warming” no! “climate change” 
So there is a possibility that music I’d want would only be available as MQA?
That possibility exists now. Vilvit is not going to change it. Music will be distributed in formats decided by the rights holders (who usually have more say than the content creators). As a consumer you get to vote with your wallet.
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I’ve got it …
Deep Thought serving up Klingon Opera to all starships simultaneously
But seriously , apart from the sheer co-ordination involved it sounds like a great idea.
Yes, I realised that after I posted. Today one can possibly find the music in a different format somewhere else. With the Vilvit idea that will probably not be possible.
There’s nothing that says vilvit will only hold one format. It will hold as many formats as the rights holders authorise, just like now.
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The context this is written in is that we are trying to get the Norwegian government to fund the proof of concept project for this, as they have themselves an initiative on greener hosting. The music industry alone is just a small actor when it comes to energy use. But a broader entertainment industry will have quite some impact.
Facebook, Google, Amazon and others have been here (I’m in Norway) to try to hustle out both tax exceptions on top of getting cheap hydro based energy. They were turned down. So, we thought we might be able to offer an interesting angle with the entertainment industry instead.
So, when I write politicians and government in the current Vilvit context, it is in the Nordics and it is trying to get government funding for a POC and also a partnership with the Seed Vault and the National Libraries. In Europe, all releases should be submitted to the National Libraries but this rarely happens. Frankly because the solutions they have are terrible. So, we are inviting them to dance on this project to consolidate many interests.
So, there is no deep state or DRM or anything else than a desire to fix one repository that over time can further innovation in the music industry alongside more efficient and energy aware solutions.
The “right words” are there for a reason 
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It is highly unlikely that anything is only offered in one format.
One of the good reasons that AWS, Azure and Google storage is distributed is latency.
If I’m in the UK the last thing I want is an API call to Roon in the US which then places a call to Tidal in the US which then directs my client to storage in Norway.
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For those with eagle eyes: I have taken away the partner footer on the vilvit.io for now. It will be updated to reflect the now involved parties as soon as they have approved.
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Norwegian mountains is just the first proof of concept. It will of course be distributed. But all catalogue will not have to be distributed at all times. Only 5-10% of catalogue is actually ever active use, and this is populated out at CDNs. So, this is more about consolidation, a complete repository and an opportunity to build a lot more innovation on top of recorded music. If you want to start a streaming service today, you will spend a good portion of a year to ingest the same files as the other services have. The curve is steep and expensive to start something.
And every Thursday night, Friday releases are being sent out in a chaotic system to serve all the services. It could have been just metadata with a URL that was distributed.
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