🔊 Audio Qobuz: Pricing and Packages

Good news for anyone considering Qobuz--they've had a price change, and their plans are even more affordable now. A pleasant bit of news this morning! My subscription renews in November, but I may decide to bump up to a family plan, or the Sublime, as I have a backlog of downloads to purchase.

Individual plans:
  • Studio Premier Annual (streaming up to 24-bit, 192kHz): $10.83/month, billed annually at $129.99
  • Studio Premier Monthly: $12.99/month
  • Studio Sublime Annual (streaming to 24/192, up to 50% discount on hi-res purchases*): $15.00/month, billed annually at $179.99
Family plans (up to six household users):
  • Studio Premier Family Annual (streaming to 24/192): $16.67/month, billed $199.99 annually
  • Studio Premier Family Monthly: $19.99/month
  • Studio Sublime Family Annual (streaming to 24/192, up to 50% discount on hi-res purchases*): $29.17/month, billed $349.99 annually
* Both Sublime packages include a discount for as much as 50% off of high-res downloads. One neat thing with Sublime is that the discounted high-res downloads are often less expensive than the CD-resolution version.

Plans: Enjoy unlimited music streaming with Qobuz- 1 month free.

Also, you can purchase downloads from Qobuz without having a streaming subscription. Prices are on par or slightly less than physical CDs, and in some instances you can purchase individual tracks. You can download in resolutions from 192-bit/24kHz lossless all the way down to 128kbs MP3/WMA/AAC, and your lossless files can be downloaded in whichever file format you choose. (Higher resolutions will appear in the drop-down list if available.)

1630547394838.png

One distinction to Qobuz vs. some of the high-res retailers (like HD Tracks) is that you can re-download your purchases at any time--there is no time limit.



Questions or comments? Leave 'em below. 👇
 
Apologies--I just heard about this last week and forgot to mention it here! 🤦‍♂️ On top of it, I was in such a rush at AXPONA that I forgot to look for David Solomonn of Qobuz, as I had a few questions I wanted to ask him.

I'm glad that Qobuz was finally able to negotiate terms to open up shop in Canada. If their library seems as though it's missing a few things, give them some time. Each new country Qobuz enters needs a completely new set of negotiations with each label and each distributor. I have to say that after having Qobuz for a few years now, it's rare I can't find something I'm looking for (unless it was a Japan-only release, or an obscurity).

One thing I noticed about pricing is that Qobuz is keeping the Canadian price on par with the US for now. We've already had a price drop, and I've been paying for the Sublime (vs. Studio) account level for the same price I was paying for Studio when it first came out. The only advantage to Sublime is if you purchase a lot of high-res downloads, as those are discounted up to 50% off. They also have expanded their plans so they now have single, duo (two person) and family (six person) plans.

Qobuz pretty much dominated AXPONA this year, and they were a sponsor as well. In the past, they were split between Qobuz and Tidal in the demo rooms. With Tidal later shifting to MQA-only and stopping their lossless streaming for a while, and now the reorganization (bankruptcy) proceedings, it's only a matter of time. Tidal has been switching back to FLAC, but they still don't offer high-res.

Enjoy, @Murray! And thanks again for the link and the update!
 
Qobuz is now offering downloads of albums in DSD. At the moment they only have just over 300 titles, but that number will grow. Perusing the selection at the moment, they are a lot of familiar titles here, including titles that appeared on SACD with the Legacy (Columbia, Epic, including Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Blood Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis), ABKCO (such as the Rolling Stones), Blue Note, ECM Records, Verve, Impulse!, Deutches Gramophone, and others. I would suspect that Octave Records will have their titles up there soon, as their studio records all new music in DSD.

A few titles are also available in DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition), at 24-bit, 352.8kHz. It is still PCM digital, though.


No streaming as of yet, due to the large file sizes. But it's a good way for folks like me to grab a few titles that we missed when the SACDs went out of print. With a Sublime account, there is a substantial discount (like 40-50% off), so those of us with a Sublime account can save quite a bit.
 
Back
Top Bottom