To our subscribers and customers - Catalogues available on Qobuz

Many of you have written to us over the course of the last ten days to let us know that catalogues or albums to which you have had access previously are now nowhere to be found.


This phenomenon is linked to the transition underway at Qobuz, which will soon see, as has been announced in the press, the appointment of a company caretaker on 29 December.

The "new Qobuz" will have exactly the same qualities as the "old Qobuz", and moreover will have considerably more financing with which to realise its lofty ambitions: let there be no doubt on this score.

However, the move from "old Qobuz" to "new Qobuz" involves a lot of work in the handover process, the re-writing of contracts and, sometimes, discussions with rightsholders.

For reasons related to the timescale of the legal process to which we are all bound, as is the caretaker, this transition will be a delicate exercise, whose complexities our team has anticipated, as far as it is possible to do so.


Our priority is to see to it that you can go on using Qobuz without interruption and that negative consequences of the change are kept to a minimum. From a technical point of view, there is no problem here. From the point of view of rightsholders and labels, on the other hand, there are a few ongoing negotiations about catalogues which could create some problems for you, which we want to let you know about in advance.

In fact, the majority of labels, the three major labels and most independent labels, have shown a very positive attitude towards Qobuz, for which we are grateful. They know that Qobuz has got a lot of potential, meaning that they stand to gain an extra online music platform which will add value to their catalogues and work against the ultra-saturation and devaluation of online music. In short, they know that helping Qobuz keep customers and subscribers is a way of preserving the future of music.

Unfortunately, there are a few catalogues or groups of catalogues that are presenting us with a few problems, and taking some completely unjustified steps which add up to breach of contract, linked to underhand competitive practices. There are, for example, some labels, classical labels in particular, who are themselves both digital distributors for third parties, and also have one or several Hi-Res download platforms, a field where Qobuz is doing quite well, and where Qobuz, as is well known, has been at the forefront, and even as founder of the entire sector...

As discussions will take place very quickly, in order to swiftly re-integrate these catalogues, we are asking our subscribers to be patient and have faith in us, just as we are endeavouring to keep our cool in the face of some rather trying attitudes.

When the storm passes, we will find a way of compensating our subscribers and users for the catalogues which disappeared during several days or weeks. And we wish to make known our warm gratitude for those labels and rightsholders who, instead of kicking us when we're down, have supported us all the way: they are, by a wide margin, the great majority!

We will return to this subject and keep you updated, as soon as possible and as often as necessary.

Thank you once again for your confidence and loyalty!

- The Qobuz team, 21 December 2015