Streaming music is usually dominated by large names like Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music, but there are some smaller services out there. Tidal might be having a tough time recently, but it's popular among those looking for higher-quality music, and now another name is entering the US audiophile-grade streaming market. Qobuz (don't ask us how to pronounce it) is bringing its high-resolution 40-million track audio library stateside later this year. 

If you haven't heard of Qobuz, that's not surprising. The company has had a rough time over the last few years. Although it's reasonably popular in France and the UK—the app has between 100K-500K downloads on Google Play—it's been confined to European markets.

With recent reports (English coverage here) alleging that Tidal is short on cash and could run out of money in the next six months, there might be a space opening in the US market for a high-quality competitor. Qobuz seems to have arrangements with most major labels, with millions of tracks available in 16-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, and around a million at a higher 24-bit/192 kHz quality available for both streaming and downloading. And, as you'd expect, it has apps for both iOS and Android.

Like other services, it works with Chromecast-compatible products, as well as other audio systems by names like Sonos and Marc Levison. For more details, you can check Qobuz's site, and the PR below. The company's entrance into the US market is expected to happen sometime in mid-2018, with more information to come at CES 2018, which is just a few days away.

Pricing in the US remains a mystery, but if it's anything like the cost in the UK, expect it to be high, with the highest-quality "Sublime" plans costing multiple hundreds per year. At equivalent pricing, it might not appeal to everyone—Tidal is still cheaper, and offers similar 24-bit audio for less. We'll have to see what the details for the US market end up being.

UPDATE: 2018/01/13 4:33am PST BY

According to Sound & Vision who appear to have visited the Qobuz booth at CES, the pricing will be the same in the US vs the UK/EU, but in dollars instead of pounds/euros. In other words:

  • Premium (MP3 320 kbps), $9.99/month or $99.99/year.
  • Hi-Fi (16-bit/44.1 kHz), $19.99/month or $199.99/year.
  • Sublime (Hi-Fi + downloads of Hi-Res 24-bit at MP3 prices), $219.99/year.
  • Sublime+ (Hi-Res 24-bit FLAC up to 192 kHz + up to 60% discount on a large part of the download catalog), $349.99/year.
Qobuz: Music & Editorial Developer: Qobuz
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