While we still saw plenty of vinyl in the show rooms in 2018, with the exception of the analog guys, more often than not streaming media was the source. This trend was so obvious in fact that we may look back at 2018 as the tipping point for adoption of services like Youtube, Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz.
Placing their bets, Amazon and iTunes both decided in 2018 not to pursue selling mp3 downloads and focus on streaming. Spotify’s IPO, in April and its more than 71 million paid subscribers also gave a lot of attention to streaming.
Streaming is a natural progression that benefits both the audio industry and consumers. The first step that made this progression possible at audio shows is the dramatic improvement over the last few years in both the quality and availability of hi-speed internet. Smart speakers are also now mainstream, and while they aren’t all “audiophile quality”, the convenience and newness of these speakers and has attracted a lot of attention.
Cookie Marenco, who owns the record label, Blue Coast Records, and the online store, Blue Coast Music, is a treasure to our audiophile community. She’s well-known for her work as a recording engineer at her own commercial facility and for being a producer at the famous Windham Hill Records. In the past year, I’ve reviewed albums from several Blue Coast Records artists. When Cookie recently announced on Facebook that her company has finalized a contract to release through Qobuz, I wanted to get her take on streaming media and on Qobuz in particular.
Q: Why Qobuz?
Cookie: “When Qobuz approached us about releasing our music through them for our high fidelity listeners we made the decision to try it. Until now, Qobuz was not available to many labels to release through. The people involved also had a lot to do with our decision. Who doesn’t love David Solomon? He’s wonderful. We’ve grown to love the whole Qobuz team.”
Q: Does this change the Blue Coast business model?
Cookie: “It’s a risky move for us financially because streaming doesn’t bring the same revenue stream. We’re hoping that streaming’s convenience combined with our acoustic music will attracted a larger, more mainstream audience that helps us support our business. We have a chance to attract a lot of people who might want higher resolution music but have been hesitant because of previous complexity setting up for downloads.”
Q: How is Qobuz different from other streaming services?
Cookie: “One of the things that separates Qobuz from the other streaming services is their high-resolution options. Truth of the matter is most independent music is going to be distributed through Youtube, Spotify and iTunes because they are very accessible and easy to upload new music to. Unlike other services, Qobuz has quality control and checks for high-resolution audio.”
Q: So what does Blue Coast offer Qobuz?
Cookie: “The difficulty all high-resolution outlets have is lack of content, and Blue Coast offers that content. While the audiophile wants higher resolution music, that hasn’t translated to enough sales for 99% of the artists, engineers and recording studios to commit to recording in higher resolution audio. Behind the scenes, all high-resolution distributors are looking for higher quality recordings to distribute. It’s not that easy to find them. Qobuz has done a good job of reaching out to those of us recording in high-resolution audio and separating the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Unlike Tidal, Qobuz is committed to their high-resolution downloads because they are the backbone of the business.”
Q: What will it take to make streaming high-resolution music successful?
Cookie: “Streaming is nice, but neither Tidal nor Spotify have made a successful business model out of streaming. Unless we want to be inundated with advertising in our listening, we are encouraging all music lovers to purchase a download to support their favorite artists and companies that distribute the music.
Conclusion
Qobuz will be available in the United States sometime early next year. Please note that you will still be able to purchase direct downloads from Blue Coast Records. And, as Cookie says, “The world is changing fast. Most of us feel like we’re a ship lost at sea while we seek new ways to create and deliver high quality music.”
