Qobuz vs Tidal, round 2

[StingRay]

Try not to forget that Tidal are pretty good with regards to artists payments.
When Qobuz launched I signed up for their extended trial and then ran the app for a good six months alongside Tidal, accessing both through Roon. I’ll not deny that the most beguiling sounds I heard were a few HD tracks on Qobuz but that was balanced against the fact that Tidal had more of what I liked, was more reliable via Roon and a lot better on a phone linked to my car. 

It depends on what genres you like, I found the opposite, Qobuz is much better for jazz and classical, Tidal is better for pop, r&b, rap. Qobuz catalogue has improved but there are still some gaps I agree. But Tidal is nearly double the price now. Then there is all the Mqa issue. Yes some of the HiRes on Qobuz are worth having. 

 

[StingRay]

My guess is none of us really knows...

See my link above

 

[garn63]

Think it should be said that all things Tidal & Qobuz are not lined with gold. Some recordings are better sounding with 16 bit red book imo.  I use Deezer & Qobuz & can find 99% of what I like to listen to this way. I do take the trouble to test stuff I like on all bitrates & streaming platforms before saving.

 

[StingRay]

Think it should be said that all things Tidal & Qobuz are not lined with gold. Some recordings are better sounding with 16 bit red book imo.  I use Deezer & Qobuz & can find 99% of what I like to listen to this way. I do take the trouble to test stuff I like on all bitrates & streaming platforms before saving.

I don’t understand your previous comment about 30 seconds music on Qobuz, I never got that unless, I’m no longer subscribing then it only allows you to play the first 30 seconds of each track.

 

[garn63]

I don’t understand your previous comment about 30 seconds music on Qobuz, I never got that unless, I’m no longer subscribing then it only allows you to play the first 30 seconds of each track.

I guess they are chancing their arm hoping you purchase a dwnld ?  For instance...if I was compiling a playlist with favourites from the artists output theres a good chance one album/single will only offer me a 30 sec sample. My playlists on Deezer are more complete than Qobuz because of this.  I pay monthly & dont know if this doesnt happen if paying for 12 months.  

 

[MartinC]

See my link above

Ah! You added that after I quoted your original post  .

I think there is a complication in terms of looking at the $ per stream though. In that from the UK government select committee hearings on streaming I think I remember that payment is more a question of how a fixed total payout amount is split between artists, rather than a simple more plays = more total money paid out. The result being that if an average Tidal subscriber listens to more tracks than the average Qobuz subscriber, then the payout per stream will be lower but the actual figures received by artists may not be. 

I use and like Qobuz and want it to be true that they're also one of the better services in terms of supporting artists. I just don't feel I can be certain they are, particularly after the recent price cut.

 

[StingRay]

Ah! You added that after I quoted your original post  .

I think there is a complication in terms of looking at the $ per stream though. In that from the UK government select committee hearings on streaming I think I remember that payment is more a question of how a fixed total payout amount is split between artists, rather than a simple more plays = more total money paid out. The result being that if an average Tidal subscriber listens to more tracks than the average Qobuz subscriber, then the payout per stream will be lower but the actual figures received by artists may not be. 

I use and like Qobuz and want it to be true that they're also one of the better services in terms of supporting artists. I just don't feel I can be certain they are, particularly after the recent price cut.

Yes I think they mean record company rather than artists. But record companies seem to be making more money now than before despite physical sales falling. So it seems they are not passing much of it on.

why would a Qobuz user play less music?

I use both. I prefer Qobuz, it suits my tastes better and is cheaper. 

The cut is probably due to Amazon cutting their prices, they did that last time. 

You have to remember that streaming services are spreading to more countries around the world, so there should be more streams. At the moment they are not making money but that is forecast to change as they gain more subscribers. I looked at Spotify figures before, don’t have access to them anymore. 

Tidal subscription seems out of line compared with the others but they keep offering free trials. Amazon HD is £8 if you have Prime, £10 without, Qobuz and Deezer have come down from £15.

 

[MartinC]

why would a Qobuz user play less music?

Purely speculating here but I'd guess Tidal appeals more to a younger demographic who are more likely to stream more whilst just generally out and about etc?

 

[StingRay]

Purely speculating here but I'd guess Tidal appeals more to a younger demographic who are more likely to stream more whilst just generally out and about etc?

Yes I think it appeals to young people more, seems to be aimed at the R&B, rap market. But Qobuz maybe more retired people, who have more time to stream at home. Tidal and Qobuz are very niche compared to Spotify and  Deezer.

It is one thing I don't like about Tidal, is it's promotion of music, I detest. Qobuz is far better.

 

[Cable Monkey]

Do you have any good recent data to demonstrate how Tidal and Qobuz compare in this regard? Whenever I've looked into this before I've failed to find anythng meaningful but I haven't looked recently. 

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/07/14/best-paying-music-streaming-service-for-artists-2021/
This link is for July. The list isn’t by any means exhaustive so don’t presume that because Qobuz isn’t on the list they pay less than the lowest in that list. More likely because they are a specialist service with a limited reach. The names there are very well financed (yes, even Tidal despite constant rumours of their impending collapse in the hands Mr. Z.)

 

[Lawrence001]

I moved from Tidal to Qobuz but I really miss the Tidal playlists especially the various neo classical ones, Max Richter etc.