We recently organized a press conference in Paris on Wednesday, 29th March 2017 to present the development plans for the business. Alongside Denis Thébaud, the Chairman and CEO of Xandrie SA, who took over Qobuz in January 2016, the other speakers included Malcolm Ouzeri, Head of Marketing, Bastien Hauville [Product Applications Manager], Céleste Bronzetti, [Technical Project Manager], Mareile Heineke and Sandra Zoor [Germany and Austria country managers], Benoît Rebus [Audio Partners Manager] and Didier Semah, Business Development Director.This press conference was followed that evening by the first Qobuzissime Evening where artists of all genres were honoured with a Qobuzzissime, an award that Qobuz gives to particularly creative and innovative artists and albums: Paul Lay Trio, Blondino, Leska, Justin Taylor & Taylor Consort, Arnaud Marzorati & La clique des Lunaisiens.

Qobuz has created the world's first Hi-Res 24-Bit streaming, QOBUZ SUBLIME+!

[ Available May 2017 ]On top of this, Qobuz has demonstrated its technical leadership by creating QOBUZ SUBLIME +, which will offer 24-Bit Hi-Res streaming for the first time in the world without any compromise and (of course) without any loss or alteration to the original version.QOBUZ SUBLIME+ uses the incremental subscription method which was first introduced with QOBUZ SUBLIME in 2015. The subscriber can stream the whole catalogue in FLAC 16-Bit / 44,1kHz quality and listen to a catalogue of 60,000 albums in Qobuz 24-Bit Hi-Res either streamed or offline - the largest catalogue in the world. There are also great deals on purchasing the downloads for all the albums - and from september 2017, there will be albums in DSD format, the ultimate format for audio fans.We think that:

4G data subscriptions are increasingly widespread
4G coverage and flow is improving
5G will be coming next
Domestic broadband has seen a great deal of development

All this allows us today, to offer our subscribers the highest sound quality, without compromise, whatever the environment.

QOBUZ SUBLIME+ will be on sale at € 349.99/year in May 2017, in annual format only

QOBUZ SUBLIME+

Includes streaming and offline mode on all the Qobuz Hi-Res 24-Bit catalogue
Includes Hi-Res 24-Bit support for all Qobuz mobile and PC applications and in many third-party partner applications.
In addition, permanent discount deals on Hi-Res download purchases.
Special offers to subscribers through its TQS program [see below]. Qobuz is the only streaming service in the world where all applications support 24-Bit Hi-Res .

New Qobuz mobile applications

[ Available end of April 2017 (iOS) ; End of May (Android) ]Qobuz announces the redesign of its iOS and Android mobile applications.Qobuz iOS and Android mobile applications already included many unique features in terms of sound formats and making digital booklets available to subscribers. Their redesign updates the interface, for the first time integrating Qobuz's rich editorial content in a very ergonomic way, previously only available on the website. It offers new views and selections as well as a more up to date way to manage playlists and recommendations.

New applications for PC Mac and Windows New web-player

[Already available]The new Qobuz Mac and PC applications were launched in mid-February 2017 and have already had two updates which took into account suggestions from Qobuz subscribers.As previously mentioned, they support the world's first 24-Bit Hi-Res streaming and offline downloading service.In addition, they offer a spectacular presentation of Qobuz's editorial content, in particular through the "Panorama" menu, which highlights the artist, discography and theme to create a highly interactive reading and listening environment.Finally, the ergonomics of these applications have been completely redesigned to employ the best market standards.

Qobuz, the leader in the highest quality fee-for-service downloading

Above all, Qobuz is a streaming brand, which is clearly seen in its turnover for streaming versus downloading.However, Qobuz users show their constant commitment to downloading on a fee-for-service basis, especially customers interested in the new 24-Bit Hi-Res formats. On the other hand, there is a strong demand abroad for a service like Qobuz which has an unrivalled reputation.That's why Qobuz, far from abandoning downloading on a fee-for-service basis, will offer a new and improved DSD and Bineal format downloading service at the beginning of September 2017 with albums in multi-channel, a quality already available at Qobuz. And this service will quickly be opening in some new countries.For more information on Direct Stream Digital go to: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Stream_Digital

Qobuz strengthens its audio ecosystem

Enabling you to use Qobuz whatever your choice of equipment – this is Qobuz’s ongoing objective.Qobuz is currently working with Sonos to enable control of the Sonos home sound system directly from its own app, to be delivered through a future software update.Qobuz is also being integrated on DTS Play-Fi, a technology which provides listeners the freedom and flexibility to stream their music wirelessly in high-quality lossless audio from smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktop PCs over an existing home Wi-Fi network to speakers throughout the home. The DTS Play-Fi ecosystem features the largest collection of products in the whole-home wireless space, with more than 30 interoperable speakers, soundbars and receivers from the top names in premium audio, including Aerix, Anthem, Arcam, Autonomic, Definitive Technology, Fusion Research, Integra, Klipsch, MartinLogan, McIntosh, Onkyo, Paradigm, Phorus, Pioneer, Polk Audio, Rotel, Sonusfaber and Wren Sound Systems.DTS Play-Fi technology enables lossless multi-room wireless audio streaming from the world's most popular music services, thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as personal music libraries on any supported product.Some of the new manufactureres and partners to integrate Qobuz include, Yamaha, Mark Levinson, Advance Acoustics and the DJ software Djuced (Guillemot Corporation). But also: Musaic, T+A, AVM, Aurender, Moon, Esoteric.Over the years, Qobuz has already been integrated by a large number of manufacturers. The complete list is available by following the link: http://qob.uz/4czwf

We also want to thank Triangle and AVM for the HI-FI installation of the press conference.

Qobuz created The Qobuz Society - TQS

Bringing an international community of people who appreciate beautiful sound quality with Qobuz values.The Qobuz Society (TQS) project aims to bring together an international community of people, professionals, brands, expert resellers and partners who share Qobuz values. www.qobuz.com/societySince the beginning of 2016, more than 600 stores, auditorium partners and audio equipment distributors throughout Europe, have already joined the TQS program. Their visitors can discover Qobuz, its uncompromising sound quality and far beyond the spirit of music according to Qobuz.. In some cases, their sales teams can benefit from training provided by Qobuz.A introductory deal to subscribe to Qobuz Hi-Fi with an exclusive compilation free download in Hi-Res 24-Bit quality are offered to all customers in 131 stores as well as at boulanger.com. (link to the Boulanger page: https://www.boulanger.com/evenement/shop-qobuz ).

Qobuz becomes even more international

In addition to France, Qobuz is now open in 8 European countries: Germany and Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, England and Ireland. The service is entirely translated into English and German. It is worth noting that Germany is the "Qobuz number 2 country" due to all the effort which has been made. Sales have increased by over 50% in the last 6 months.Qobuz's successes in the German market are undoubtedly in classical and jazz music genres, which are traditionally strong repertoires for music lovers who appreciate quality and recording production, in particular for independents, especially followed by Qobuz. As a result, the German market will be a strong focus for Qobuz from now until the end of 2017.Qobuz will open in summer 2017 in these new countries: Italy, Spain and Poland.These openings are linked to local or European partners that will be announced in the coming weeks.Statement from Denis Thébaud, P-D.G. from Xandrie S.A., the Qobuz editorDenis Thébaud first talked about some key elements relating to the business:Since January 2017 the Qobuz service has been rebuilt and techically updated in terms of both interface and administrative tools.The agreements with the majors and independent record companies have been renewed, as have agreements with all copyright offices, in all the countries.Xandrie SA has put its plan in place, in line with its commitments to maintaining its teams and developing investments and projects.15 months after the Qobuz takeover, Denis Thébaud talked about his optimism for the business:With the market maturing, today, we can clearly see the direction to lead Qobuz, in other words, to the point of profitability."We're going to get there, and certainly by ways and means quite different from those of our competitors, because we have established ourselves, in a controlled and conscious manner, in a quality segment of the market that Qobuz has created. Our competitive edge is undeniable. "Finally, we are going to work on developing our entry level product to offer a high quality alternative to competitors' products that are very similar to each other. We're not going to hold back on any of our ambitions and will be announcing some new partnerships in the coming weeks in addition to those we have had the pleasure of presenting today. " "Quality is our key focus"

Distribution of the musical genres Qobuz's users are listening to:

March 29 2017 - Our new announcements #qobuzisback