QOBUZ EXPANDS INTO JAPAN, CONSOLIDATING ITS POSITION AS THE LEADER IN HIGH-QUALITY MUSIC STREAMING

Paris, October 24, 2024 - Qobuz, the French pioneer of high-quality music streaming since 2007, takes a major step with its launch in Japan, the world's second-largest music market. This strategic expansion marks a decisive turning point in the international development of the platform, reinforcing its trajectory towards profitability and its commitment to a musical experience that combines quality and discovery.

A strategic expansion in a key market

After establishing a presence in 25 countries, Qobuz now enters the Japanese market, its twenty-sixth territory. This step forward is part of the French platform's accelerated international expansion. Since its launch in the United States in 2019, Qobuz has opened in 15 new markets in just four years.

Qobuz's move into Japan, following the acquisition of e-onkyo music in 2021, marks its commitment to a high-potential market. While streaming dominates the global music market with over 67% of revenue, Japan presents a unique landscape where the physical market still accounts for over 50% of sales. Paid streaming, while lagging behind with less than 30% market share (compared with over 50% in other major markets), is showing remarkable growth in a country where the offering remains limited and dominated by a few major players. With an expansion rate of almost 13%, compared with less than 7% in the US, Japan appears to be a promising market for Qobuz. Japanese music lovers, known for their high standards when it comes to sound quality, are an ideal audience for Qobuz's high-quality offering.

Georges Fornay, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Qobuz, comments: "Our move into Japan marks a major turning point, bringing us closer to our goal of profitability. We are proud to offer Japanese music lovers a valuable musical experience combining exceptional sound quality, editorial richness, and musical discovery. This expansion into the world's second-largest music market, where streaming is booming, comes at an ideal time and strengthens our position as the undisputed benchmark for high-quality streaming and downloading."

Qobuz, the alternative to the streaming giants

A pioneer and global benchmark in high-quality sound, Qobuz stands out for its singular approach. Dedicated exclusively to music, the platform offers a unique experience combining three fundamental pillars: high-resolution streaming, high-resolution downloads, and cutting-edge editorial content. The platform offers an incomparable listening experience thanks to its uncompromised, uncompressed audio quality, ranging from 16-bit CD quality to 24-bit/up to 192 kHz, and now DXD and DSD, faithfully reproducing artists' and engineers’ original intent in the studio, and setting new standards for the streaming industry.

Beyond streaming, Qobuz is a true cultural medium, offering a dedicated community of music enthusiasts an environment conducive to rich and varied music discovery. Qobuz Magazine features a plethora of  editorial content, including artist  interviews,  in-depth articles diving deep into genres, labels and music history, and of course a section dedicated to Hi-Fi gear reviews. The editorial team, made up of passionate music experts, puts together eclectic musical selections and hand-crafted playlists every week, covering all  genres, from rock and jazz to classical, pop, R&B, electronic, and metal.

Qobuz enriches its catalog of over 100 million titles by integrating high-resolution tracks from e-onkyo music and a repertoire of Japanese music, including specialized genres such as J-Pop for its launch in Japan. Subscribers in Japan will benefit from the complete Qobuz offer, combining streaming and downloading.


Discover the City Pop, which dominated the Japanese music scene in the 70s

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Key figures, source IFPI 2024 :

●  Global music streaming market in 2023:

○  67.3% of music revenues

○  Pay-per-view streaming: subscription growth: 11.2% (10.1% by 2022)

●  Japanese music market :

○  Physical market: 55% of sales

○  Paid streaming: 28.7% of the market

○  Pay-per-view streaming growth: 12.8

●  Comparison of growth in paid streaming :

○  Japan: 12.8

○  United States: 7% 

○  France: 9.5