TIDAL Music streaming service

Despite the fact that I do not own a streamer at this point, and have a couple of times praised the choice, and indeed the sound quality achievable via a PC and DAC, it has to be said that if music is all you need it for, there are more convenient ways of doing things via hifi streamers.  It is that dependency on brands to devote time and resources developing solutions for the services you may wish to use that puts me off currently.  Each time one is solved, something else comes along offering something better, whether that be choice, improved sound quality, or usability.  

My broadband is currently fast enough that I can use lossless music streaming, and HD video streaming, without pauses or any issues, but from early next year fibre will available in this little Norfolk town, as it is already in many other places.  As that kink of bandwidth becomes available, how long before someone offers streaming 24bit studio masters as a premium service?  And were it feasible in terms of bandwidth, how many of is would be prepared to pay say £30 per month to get that, or indeed update their now superseded streamer to something that would deliver it?

In the USA Deezer 44.1/16 FLAC via SONOS is available. Purchase one year lump is $99USD. The interface is not the best but the sound is excellent and the library is advertised at 35 million+. SONOS to NDAC/Supernait 2. May try Tidal when it arrives. Hope Naim moves rapidly to incorporate these kind of services in the servers and streamers. 

I am in the USA - TIDAL is already here - and the app is rather impressive.

Linn have just released a beta to directly pull TIDAL into their DS's - I am running it into my KDS and it sounds absolutely spectacular.

I have a Muso sitting here - I hope that Naim incorporate TIDAL.  It is currently the only full resolution cd quality service available in the States - Qobuz is not available here yet - and with their financial difficulties who knows if they ever will be.

TIDAL seems to be the front runner

The Bluesound Node has a S/PDIF out, but it's Toslink only, which is a shame because from a pure audio quality perspective I feel its noticeably better than it's closest rival the Sonos Connect, which has both a Toslink and a coaxial S/PDIF output.

If Spotify is coming to Naim's current network players and Uniti products, then until told otherwise, I think we can assume that other streaming services could be ported as well. But obviously, Naim is moving slowly (or at least very cautiously), and so it is fair for us to ask why.

I suppose it is possible that Spotify falls within some technical spec (e.g., max amount of memory required) that Qobuz, Tidal and Deezer do not.  But I suspect the more likely reasons for the delays are non-technical.

Perhaps it's because Naim is not sure that any of the services will survive in the long term, and they don't want to waste scarce development resources. They are making a bet on Spotify because it is still growing, but its year over year losses are also growing. It is not a sustainable business model, but Spotify is concerned that raising price prematurely would impact their growth rate. First comes market share, then comes profitability.

If Naim truly believed they could sell more products by moving more aggressively in this area, wouldn't they have done so by now?  It leads me to speculate that the demand for lossless streaming services remains relatively small, and that Qobuz, Tidal and Deezer are all fighting for slices of a relatively small pie.  

I hope this changes. Am enjoying Tidal, and plan to try Deezer as well. But I don't feel very optimistic that either will do a better job than Qobuz of turning a profit and surviving.

ATB.

Hook

Can't speak for Naim, but the provincial approach to music licensing and releases currently in place does the premium streaming services no favors; so far, Spotify is the one service that seems to have managed to wade its way through the morass to accommodate more than one region.

This situation makes it hard to justify development costs for a region-limited feature.

WIMP / TIDAL is getting there, though there are still tracks / albums which are not available in all regions....

Deezer is a new entrant to the US, worldwide its firmly established as the number 2 to Spotify and thanks to partnerships with the likes of Samsung, Sonos, Bose etc. is growing very fast and currently running at a higher conversion rate than Spotify. Deezer largest shareholder also owns Warner Music Group.

Worldwide, Spotify has 50 million users, with 12.5 million of those paying. Deezer has 16 million users, with six million of those paying. Spotify has 30 million songs reaching 58 countries. Deezer has 35 million reaching 185 countries. By way of comparison Qobuz hasn't yet breached a six figure number of paying subscribers. While no one is actually making money Deezer at least has the backing and scale that gives it a fighting chance.

I find Deezer interesting because they are the first mainstream provider planning to offer 'classic' 320k and CD quality streaming. Although launched in the US Deezer Elite will be rolled out to existing Deezer markets next year.

Hi Lars - 

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...73#43381256894739673

Good luck!

Hook

I'd be more worried about whether artists are going to make any money than record companies whose sterwardship of the industry has been disastrous, however, II suspect that at least for some time there will be those who need to own their music and not have to stream it over the net

Artist unless they are among the absolute world selling few, will have to make money on concerts maybe vinyl records, highres downloads  and other extras. This does not have to be a bad thing, since people are willing to go to concerts, more than  20 to 30 years ago.

My guess is that internet radio gives even less money to artists than streaming does, but I admit I know nothing about how royalties are handle when you broadcast online.

Claus