Any thoughts? Lock in 3 years of Qobuz at today's rate

I am on the fence and cannot decide if the QoBuz 3 year price deal is a good deal or not. Any thoughts?  What are you going to do?   Thanks. 
 

I have a yearly plan... sounds like a good idea for me 

Agreed, looks like a fair deal to help them finance their business while we enjoy a lack of annual price hikes.

 I am already on a yearly plan..this is a no brainer. 

I took the offer as I fully expect to subscribe for the next three years and I want to support their development.  Presumably, that will include the use of AI for better personalized recommendations. 

So I already pay the $130 yearly rate but would you now owe at renewal all 3 yrs at once? Thoughts on what an increase might be, no mention of a rate hike.

$500 for lifetime Roon turned out pretty good.  I will probably take this offer too.

I feel pretty certain there will be a rate hike or two in the next 3 years...seems like good deal to me...I’ve been especially happy with Qobuz since they began Qobuz Connect...

How much would it cost us to own all the music in our streaming libraries? I understand the difference between ownership and rental, still I could never afford to own perhaps even 1% of the recordings in my library which means I couldn't enjoy listening to them on my audiophile system. I'll take the rentals, already have issues storing over 3k albums and over 3.5k cd's at home. Streaming is easily best bang for buck music software to come down the pike.

I think it’s a good way of Qobuz letting users know there will be price increases the next few years and to boost their bottom line now.  I reupped for the next 3 years.  

bassbuyer

... it’s a good way of Qobuz letting users know there will be price increases ...

Yet they never actually say that.

Sound great. I have had Qobuz for years. The price has only come down. But, it is one of the best deals on anything I subscribe to. I would think it would be hard to believe it would continue to go down. 

OP, do you have a link to that deal? I logged on to my account and did not see it... I am at the $129 / year plan. 

@ghdprentice 

As you requested, Qobuz has sent targeted emails to existing users containing the offer.

The offer may also be found within the subscription management section after logging in at the Qobuz website.  

That Qobuz notice reminded me to cancel my Qobuz ubscription. I like Tidal better since they help me discovery music in a better way,

@hgeifman

Thanks. But for me that offer was not sent and it does not appear anywhere on their site. Maybe it only comes up near renewal time. Or, are you in the US? Just thinking maybe it is only offered in certain countries. 

I happily reupped for 3 years. It’s such a great deal and I want to do what I can to support them!

@ghdprentice 

Yes, I live in the USA. I believe the Qobuz three-year subscription offer is not limited to the USA, and it is typically available in all regions where Qobuz has market presence, including Europe, the US, and parts of Latin America and elsewhere.  

please send Qobuz customer support an email and ask them.  

There is an indication of yearly price increase for European customers from 149.99 to 167.88. I suspect a similar price increase coming soon for US customers. 

@ghdprentice my offer was sent in an email. Like they tell us maybe check your junk mail file.

I'm on the fence. On another forum there was talk that Qobuz is having financial problems and needs a cash influx.  I've got the yearly plan at $130 and this deal would approach $400 up front.  If they are having financial problems -- and I have no idea one way or the other -- can they keep up their end of the bargain?  I'm leaning toward suffering a $10 or $15 buck increase rather than being out $400 if they are not financially healthy enough to honor their obligation. But I'm going to think about it a bit more before making a final decision. 

I took advantage of the one year offer, but I would really like to take advantage of the three year deal.  However, I’m a few days from my 87th birthday.  Seems like I’m gambling on my potential life span. And since I already took advantage of the one yea offer, what would happen if I bought a 3 year plan….would I sign up for four years then?

Qobuz is private, so there is no motivation for them to release financials. They do not use advertising, only monies from subscriptions to obtain revenue. There has been a fair rebuke of online services by artists this year as the artist themselves feel they are not getting a fair shake in profits. Artists claim that streaming services are an unsustainable revenue model for them, and that will make a difference going forward as they have the power to force change in the industry. 

Also, Qobuz was bought out in 2015 and the French buyer paid monies on what was reported to be 3 years of debt at that time. It was reported that Oobuz was close to bankruptcy at the time. Quite likely that a 3-year membership is aimed at reducing the debt occurred since the buy-out. What's more is that the buyer's company had only been in business for three years before the buy-out. Hence, there is not a whole lot there that should make anyone warm and fuzzy about Qobuz's probable longevity. 

In addition, there is no lack of competition in the streaming industry and Qobuz is unique in that they are all-in on audiophiles and the growth of that demographic. While it is a demographic that is trending up, that may be because of cheaper hi-fi systems available (headphones; incorporating audiophile systems into TV). But with the current attack on cheaper overseas electronics via taxes, that demographic trend is certainly in danger of disappearing.

But for those that ask if the price will rise. Well, of course it will, this is capitalism. If the company is showing a sign that it needs a cash infusion, and they have neglected to make financials public, then if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck!

>> "But for those that ask if the price will rise. Well, of course it will, this is capitalism."

That's not always true -- sometimes innovation and competition lowers prices.  I bought my first computer in 1980 for $2,000 -- B&W screen, 2 floppy drives, no hard drive, and the memory was 128K, double what was standard at the time. I bought a new PC last week for $330. It has a 1 TB drive, 32 G of RAM and tons of other features that were non-existent in 1980. 

I like Qobuz a lot, mainly for how they present new releases on a weekly basis and let me find new artists in my preferred genres. Much better than any of the other services I've tried. So I've decided to stick with them on a yearly basis. If they go belly-up or prices go up too much, there are plenty of alternatives. And I already have my own large collection of music I love so the worst that can happen to me is that I go back to how I obtained music in the decades before streaming. 

I'm on the fence too. The offer suggests a need for a cash inflow. If they can't sustain things with the current subscriber base, the long term prospects seem shaky. I want to buy music access, not pay down corporate debt. 

I'll probably stick with yearly. Competition should keep prices reasonable.

All,

Thanks to everyone who posted their comments above regarding locking in a 3-year subscription to QoBuz.  

I understand there might be some risk that QoBuz goes out of business, or I might not be here in 3-years.  In any case, I believe their prices will increase shortly so I like locking in at today's rate.  I asked some of my audio friends and they also believe it is a good deal.  

I signed up for the QoBuz 3-year plan and they credited my account for the time remaining on my current 1-year subscription.   Thanks again for your comments.  

After some research, I've come to believe the offer is more of a customer retention strategy than a cash grab. I went ahead and did it. 

@mitch2 $500.00 for Room is not covering your subscription to a streaming service like Qobuz or Tidal. 

I also looked at this. But I have also been thinking about going back to Sublime level. If you just occasionally buy a few pieces of music, your money ahead. Tom Petty Complete Wild flowers 24/96 you save $17 just on one purchase. They do not seem to be offering it on this level,

Qobuz's timing is especially interesting after the news that Spotify is offering lossless.

"now, finally, it’s started rolling out to Premium listeners in select markets."

Qobuz's timing is especially interesting after the news that Spotify is offering lossless.

@cleeds  That’s a very good point.  I’m highly skeptical their lossless sound quality will match Qobuz or Tidal, but if it does it’ll be very interesting and glad I’m not locked in for three years now.  

@soix 

+1

I agree. The comparison between Tidal and Qobuz has been going on for years with the nod consistently going to Qobuz... so, it is unlikely that a mainstream company, just flips a switch and comes out with a better sounding product. 

I've used BOTH Tidal and Qobuz for a long time and they both sound fantastic. The hate with Tidal always had to do with MQA. They no longer have those files. I stuck with Tidal.

@foggyus91 

"$500.00 for Room is not covering your subscription to a streaming service like Qobuz or Tidal." 

Correct, but I have had it since just about the beginning so it turned out to be a very good deal by locking in the price from the get-go instead of going month by month and waiting.  Current rates are, $14.99/month, $149.88/year, or $829.99 for a lifetime membership.

I currently stream Qobuz and Tidal (both paid monthly) through Roon .  I should probably pay closer attention to whether I can get 99% of what I want to hear with one or the other but, by having both plus my own rips, I can almost always find what I want.  If Spotify comes on board, it will be interesting to see how that affects pricing of the other two or, if I were to only have two, which two of the three would I choose.  Maybe a reason to keep paying monthly for Qobuz to see how things shake out.