INDUSTRY UPDATE
US: NEW YORK, NY
Jason Victor Serinus
On November 8, at the very small New York Audio Show, Paris-based music streaming service Qobuz announced that it has streamlined its subscription plans, lowered prices—and eliminated MP3 files from its streaming catalog.
At a press event, Dan Mackta, managing director of Qobuz USA, said that Qobuz now offers “Studio Premier” subscriptions for $14.99/month or $149.99 for a full year. Studio Premier grants subscribers unlimited access to Qobuz’s catalog of more than 50 million CD-quality tracks and also millions of hi-rez tracks up to a resolution of 24/192. Qobuz will continue to offer its “Sublime+” plan ($249.99/year), which includes streaming access plus a “substantial” discount for hi-rez download purchases from the Qobuz store.
The service’s other plans have been eliminated—which means, importantly, that Qobuz no longer offers music in MP3 or other lossily compressed
