'Tidal... sound seems a bit brash compare to Qobuz' - exactly what I found though I was comparing Qobuz on iMac to Tidal on an Aurender...

I have no idea why this should be the case because the Aurender was superb on tracks streamed from a NAS (much better than my NDX) but definitely brash when streaming Tidal...

I made a big buy in the weekend in the fear that they would be out of business after the weekend. Luckily this was not the case. So I hope they will stay around - and my next big buy will await when they give money based discount on the size of the order. This is always the best time with them when you combine the discount of Qoboz Sublime with the overall discount. Would really hate when they are gone as they besides the good offering from a financial perspective also have a rather broad collection.

I dropped a big buy on them this week. I would have bought the material anyway but did it in one go and went straight to Qobuz rather than shop around. They used to do some good Christmas offers, I wonder if they will still be able to?

Latest update from the Qobuz petition site:

Dear Petitioner,

Launched two weeks ago, the petition in support of Qobuz has now surpassed 10,000 signatures. Among them are many Qobuz lovers, musicians, and music professionals.

We would like to take a moment to thank you. It is also an opportunity to convey a message of hope from the team at Qobuz as the current situation develops.
Last Monday, November 23, deadline for the submission of any proposed takeover bids, four offers were presented to the Judicial Administrator.
The subject is fairly well exposed in an article in L'Express published today.

With regards to the fate of Qobuz, many of you have raised the notion of participatory financing. We had looked into this extensively but, for legal reasons, it was not possible (or very complex), as the company was then in receivership.

At this stage, more than ever, to support Qobuz, the best way is to be loyal. To buy music on Qobuz, to share Qobuz with your friends.
This will help us come smoothly through this transitional period until the recovery solution is chosen and in place (between mid-December and mid-January, all going well).

Thank you again for your unwavering support, and for continuing to believe in and empower Qobuz.

(Translated from L'Express article 25.11.15)

Qobuz, in receivership, received four takeover bids

Four buyers have come forward to redeem the streaming site and high-quality music downloads. Customers should not therefore lose. Yves Riesel, Quobuz CEO, said he was "relieved" but "bitter".

Qobuz placed in receivership on November 9, received four takeover bids. The company, which had not managed to find the necessary funding for the backup procedure, is threatened to put the key under the door should the Commercial Court not find any candidate for recovery. Yves Riesel, patron and founder of the French platform for streaming and downloading, said he was "relieved" but also "bitter" after the submission of tenders.  

Still a chance to perpetuate the service by limiting breaks

"The two best deals come from candidates who are more or less in the music industry," he tells The Express. "One of them has good guarantees for employment - the company has 38 employees - and a reasonable investment level." Here for relief. Meanwhile, Yves Riesel regrets having received only four bids. For him, this signs "the total failure of the financing of the music industry in France. No one thinks to finance medium-sized companies, is the problem we will have to solve."  

With the failure of lifting Qobuz funds and the postponement of the IPO of Deezer, it begs the question: is there still money to fund digital music in France? Alexis de Gemini, the CEO of Deezer, toldFrenchweb have found that "the streaming market is still unknown to investors." For Yves Riesel, if this market is unknown, Deezer did not facilitate its work. "If the leaders had shown genuine efforts to develop the willingness to pay, we would not be here." 

"Not a gesture, not a word"

Yves Riesel also regrets that "political power has not mobilized, who meddles in everything, always. There was not even a gesture, not a word." Despite a petition to "save Qobuz", who gathered almost 10,000 signatures (including a number of label managers and artists).

Sure, the fate of Qobuz is far mobilize as much as that of the other French streaming video, Dailymotion (acquired by Vivendi) after the government went above and beyond to make sure the platform remains French). It must be said that both players do not play in the same category. Qobuz, has 25 000 subscribers and hundreds of thousands of users paying assets, against 130 million unique visitors per month for Dailymotion. But the key word of these statistics, is "paying". For Qobuz has a very enviable income per subscriber in the area, 106 euros a year. While the platform is not profitable, but it has increased its turnover by 55% over the last year, to 7.4 million Euro.  

In case of recovery, the transition will be painless for customers

He will now have to wait until December, at best, at worst, to January, to determine the outcome of the deliberations. In the meantime, the site continues its normal operations. If a buyer is designated, customers will not notice a thing. They will not lose their music library, and can continue to use the service normally. 

Loyal customers of Qobuz stand out from the core target of competing platforms, which "only think youngsters", says Yves Riesel.According to the results of a study released today, the average age of Qobuz users is 49 years, and 56% of clients between 40 and 60 years. More than the average audiophile, they approve by a large majority the quality of sound files available on Qobuz, its trademark

Just received an email from Qobuz making me an offer I apparently can't refuse with a £25 discount if I spend at least £60, but the discount code is only valid if I spend another minimum of £80. This is an offer for the mathematically challenged and one I certainly can refuse. No wonder they're having problems.

I've bought a couple of albums on special offer this afternoon for £17 for the two, but I'm certainly not going to spend £140 to save £25. 

Bert, your purchases alone should be enough to keep them afloat. I have no clue how you find the time to listen to even a fraction of what you buy.

I received mine, but in French. I thought I'd lost my language skills! Glad to have this daft e-mail content verified..

They may not be dead but they sure smell funny. Move on for gods sake.

So they've got 25,000 subscribers paying 106Eu pa.  So that's 2.65 million Eu pa then.

I've no idea what licensing fees to the companies cost, but if they were half of that, and then the cost of developing, maintaining and marketing the site were half of that again then the resulting 66,000Eu isn't much to support 38 staff!

As garyi says, smells funny and looks like a twitching body to me

Qobuz not working tonight for me  

It was a bit wibbly wobbly when I was downloading some stuff this afternoon. Perhaps they were too busy. 

I've not been on there for a while so I thought I'd have a look. Their prices seem very steep now. I looked at ELO's new album. 16 bit CD quality £15.79! On Amazon the CD is nearly half the price at £7.99. I know it just a sample but it will be Amazon who'll get my business.

Erm... 660k. Still not a lot for salaries - but those are sweeping assumptions.

anyone know what royalties actually would be? 

I read somewhere that licences are over 80%. 

If if you read the various news articles, their total turnover is much higher, due to paid-for downloads. The hires albums I bought today were far cheaper than the cd equivalents, but you do need to shop around. 

QOBUZ working again this morning

I make it a rule never to touch an ailing company with my money.

Jota posted:

I make it a rule never to touch an ailing company with my money.

Why?

What is your criteria for ailing?

Did it include Naim before the takeover?

Bananhead give it up mate. Other streaming service are available (for now)

Jota posted:

I make it a rule never to touch an ailing company with my money.

You get a direct return for whatever you pay Qobuz for - downloads or the monthly streaming service - you pay you get the product/service. Even with the upfront annual fee it goes into escrow, so if they do go belly up, you get the balance of your subscription year back. 

I am still enjoying my monthly Qobuz subscription and great download last weekend (high res download of Sarabande
by Händel - at a better price than Amazon MP3) and hopefully will continue to do so with a new owner next year.  If not, I know I will not loose out financially.

Bananahead makes a good point too. 

Kevo posted:

I am still enjoying my monthly Qobuz subscription and great download last weekend (high res download of Sarabande
by Händel - at a better price than Amazon MP3) and hopefully will continue to do so with a new owner next year.  If not, I know I will not loose out financially.

My thoughts exactly.

There is a post on the Qobuz Blog explaining last weekend's technical issue. This sort of thing can happen to anyone running an eCommerce service. What matters is how you recover from it and communicate with your users, and on both counts I thought they did well. My fingers are still crossed.

david

I too will be retaining my Qobuz account for as long as they are in business.

M

Bananahead posted:

Jota posted:

I make it a rule never to touch an ailing company with my money.

Why?

What is your criteria for ailing?

Did it include Naim before the takeover?

I bought an item off Naim that belongs to me.  If Naim folded I'd still have my streamer.

I wouldn't pay a subscription for a service that might go juggs up at any moment.