New Qobuz pricing structure

[Musicophile]

Qobuz just changed the pricing of their subscriptions:

 

https://www.qobuz.com/fr-fr/music/streaming/offers

 

Premium (MP320) and Hifi (16/44) remain the same.

 

Sublime Plus (includes full highres streaming) was just priced lower, now €299 per year (was €349).

 

They've also added a monthly subscription called Studio (Sublime+ is a yearly purchase), which doesn't included the substantial discounts on high-res purchases taht Sublime+ includes.

 

However, most worrying to me, the regular Sublime which I'm subscribing to currently disappeared. At around €220 per year, this was to me the best deal overall.

 

Not so happy about this disappearing. Will need to think next year if Sublime+ is worth the additional €80 annually.  

[Musicophile]

Now, just to make things more annoying, I just wanted to buy some albums, and have just been told that I'm not subscribed to Sublime any more. I hope this is just a technical glitch, and I'm waiting right now for customer service to get back to me.

 

At least, in the meantime, the streaming still works. 

[firedog]

You are right, they eliminated what was probably the value proposition for many people- those that wanted good quality streaming and discounts on purchases.
But I sort of understand it: I'm guessing it could be a loss leader for them - anyone who made a lot of discounted purchases was really getting the streaming for very little. 

 

I'm guessing it also has to do with standardizing offers before they open up in the States. They may have decided the more important market in the states was going to be streaming so they are offering  direct competitors to Tidal - either CD streaming at similar prices or true hi res at a slightly higher price. 

[sls]

It makes sense to me. 

I have Sublime+, now £300 and you have to pay for a year, but I don't buy downloads any more.

If I change to Studio and pay for a year, I get it £50 cheaper. 

It's the same if I pay monthly.

 

So basically Studio is simply a £50 saving for those who don't download (about half of Sublime+ customers) and are happy to pay for a year up front.

 

So now it's really simple:

 

100 - mp3                                                     (+20 for monthly payment)

200 - 16/44                                                (+40 for monthly payment)

250 - HD                                                      (+50 for monthly payment)

300 - HD + download discounts

[church_mouse]

My annual HiFi Sublime subscription comes up for renewal in 10 days time.  In August I was emailed and told it would be renewed on the same terms as last year. I have now emailed to check that still applies or what they are proposing.

 

 I fear bad news.  Perhaps a last minute binge on discounted downloads then accept a basic HiFi subscription may be the result.

[sls]

I've never used Tidal. 

Just had a look and it says MQA requires you to be connected to a desktop computer? Is that correct?

 

Qobuz iOS and Android does Hi-Def streaming. I often stream from my Amazon Fire tablet and can use it or an iPhone/iPad into a Chord Mojo for Hi-Def listening. On holiday put a load of HD music in my offline library on my phone and take the Mojo and headphones.

[Musicophile]

15 hours ago, Musicophile said:

Now, just to make things more annoying, I just wanted to buy some albums, and have just been told that I'm not subscribed to Sublime any more. I hope this is just a technical glitch, and I'm waiting right now for customer service to get back to me.

 

At least, in the meantime, the streaming still works. 

Got feedback from Qobuz: this error message is indeed a technical glitch that I can simply ignore. 

 

[Musicophile]

On a more long term note: this experience just reconfirmed me in the thinking that purchasing music is still the way to go. 

 

A part from the fact that it probably gives the best share of revenue to the actual artist, this change is just another reminder that what is available today as a streaming offer may well be gone tomorrow, or simply just significantly more expensive. You are at the compete mercy of the vendor. 

 

Nobody has yet figured out a viable business model in streaming. So the long term viability of any of these services is still unclear. 

 

So so my approach remains the same: enjoy streaming while it lasts, it’s a great tool for music discovery. 

 

But if you really like a certain album, we should all just buy it. Nobody can take that away from you any more. 

 

 

[mkrzych]

4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

But if you really like a certain album, we should all just buy it. Nobody can take that away from you any more. 

4 hours ago, Musicophile said:

 

 

So so my approach remains the same: enjoy streaming while it lasts, it’s a great tool for music discovery. 

 

But if you really like a certain album, we should all just buy it. Nobody can take that away from you any more. 

 

 

 

 

Amen, bro! For music discovery is awesome, that's why I keep Spotlight subscription, but indeed if I like certain album I will probably buy it - at least try to if I still have capacity on my harddrive of course ;-)

[rodrigaj]

I'm primarily a classical music listener in the USA...

 

Spotify Premium at 320bps with Spotify Connect is the best value in streaming and for music discovery. $10 per month is unbeatable and 320bps is not bad - for all but the most modern recordings and masters.

 

I was a Tidal subscriber for many years but their retagging of classical music tracks made them unsuitable.

 

(Waiting for Godot in the USA)

[sls]

46 minutes ago, rodrigaj said:

I'm primarily a classical music listener in the USA...

 

Spotify Premium at 320bps with Spotify Connect is the best value in streaming and for music discovery. $10 per month is unbeatable and 320bps is not bad - for all but the most modern recordings and masters.

 

I was a Tidal subscriber for many years but their retagging of classical music tracks made them unsuitable.

 

(Waiting for Godot in the USA)

 

I use Qobuz Sublime+ and my kids use Spotify, they love it as they beam it to Devialet and it auto-detects Spotify.  For Classical, Qobuz is stunningly good.

 

Just got an email from Qobuz, my subscription is going down from £350 to £300. 

Seems all prices are being aligned with £/€/$ parity. (£ price includes 20% sales tax)

[Charente]

HighResAudio.com streaming (+downloads) pricing may also have had an influence on Qobuz changes. But, IMO, their player is questionable ... not so much the SQ but functionality, so I used Audirvana+ to stream from them.

[wgscott]

On 10/11/2018 at 2:33 AM, Musicophile said:

Got feedback from Qobuz: this error message is indeed a technical glitch that I can simply ignore. 

 

"Technical glitch" is now a synonym for "breach of contract"?

[Musicophile]

45 minutes ago, wgscott said:

 

"Technical glitch" is now a synonym for "breach of contract"?

Well no, as I just purchased 4 albums with the usual Sublime discount. It is just a confusing wrong message that shouldn't be there (and by the way hasn't been fixed yet).