Qobuz · France
Founded in Paris back in 2007, Qobuz picked a lane early and never left it.
Sound quality above everything else.
Most streaming apps compress music down to something that just sounds fine through phone speakers. Qobuz goes the other way, streaming in Hi-Res audio, up to 24-bit, 192kHz, the kind of detail audiophiles actually notice.
It is a service that refuses the race to the bottom on quality.
There’s no free, ad-supported tier either. That’s part of how it stays sustainable.
Here’s the part that really stands out, though. Qobuz says it is the first streaming platform to have its average payout per stream validated by an independent audit firm, which it does not name. The number: about $0.0187 per stream on average, in the year to 31 March 2024. That average includes both recordings and publishing, so it cannot be compared directly with other services.
For a service built by people who wanted music treated like art rather than filler, that feels like the whole point.
Learn more: https://www.qobuz.com/
