Qobuz, a high-quality music streaming and download platform, is now officially available in Canada. This marks the French service’s 26th country for launch.
Qobuz offers a catalogue of more than 100 million titles, all lossless, downloadable files that it says are high-res and CD quality. This includes high-res FLAC files at up to 9,216 kbps with a sample rate up to 24-bit/192kHZ. The service is also about music discovery with access to content like artist interviews, in-depth articles, and a section dedicated to Hi-Fi hear within its online magazine. Each week, the expert editorial team also provides a list of recommendations and featured albums including both known and emerging artists. These are across a variety of music genres, like rock, jazz, classical, pop, R&B, electronic, world, and metal.
Building a community, the Qobuz Club offers audiophiles and music lovers from all over the world a unique place where they can share their musical discoveries and recommendations as well as advice on Hi-Fi equipment.
“Qobuz is the only platform in the world to offer unparalleled sound quality (high resolution music streaming and downloads), coupled with an exclusive cultural magazine with thousands of articles dedicated to music,” says Georges Fornay, Deputy CEO of Qobuz. “Qobuz is aimed at a demanding and discerning audience looking for alternatives to the mainstream.” .
“The arrival of Qobuz in Canada has been eagerly awaited by audiophiles and dedicated music fans,” adds Dan Mackta, Managing Director, Qobuz North America & Northern Europe. “It is very exciting for us to be able to offer our unique high-quality service across the entirety of North America.”
Qobuz Canada is a subscription-based service with three price plans available: Solo for individuals, Duo for two people, and Family for up to six accounts, including members of the same family. With each Studio plan, you get unlimited access to the entire catalog in studio quality as well as all editorial content.
A standard Solo subscription is $13/mo. if you go month-to-month or $130/yr., which works out to $10.83/mo. if you commit to the full 12 months. The Duo option is $18/mo. on a monthly plan or $15/mo. for the year at $179.88/yr. A Family can subscribe for $21.90/mo. or save by pre-paying $215.88 for the year, which works out to $18/mo.
There’s also a Sublime subscription that includes access to the entire catalog of albums in studio quality for both streaming download as well as exclusive discounts on Hi-Res purchases of up to as much as 60% off. These plans are $180/yr. for Solo or $15/mo., $269.89/yr. for Duo or $22.50/mo., and $350/yr. ($29.17/mo.) for the Family subscription.
Qobuz was founded in 2007 and is now available in 26 countries in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, and Japan (high-res downloading service only). Qobuz has a Hi–Res Audio licence from the Japan Audio Society.