Is this MQA news a big deal?

Walkmans will ruin music!! Not even close. CD’s will replace record albums!!!.... panic! It did not. Mp3 files will destroy the music industry! Did’nt happen. Not even Napster ruined music, although it did allow music sharing and musical artists and record companies scrambled a bit. Streaming music will kill audiophile sound. Nope.
MQA will ruin Hi-Fi.... really???

I bought a Bluesound Node 2. I wanted to be able to access my digital music without using a computer. Even though the Node 2 enabled me to control my stereo with my phone or Ipad and play decent sounding music simply and at a budget I could afford it was not until I streamed MQA files that I heard a remarkable and better sound. Is it better than a quality vinyl rig or CD player or even hi-rez digital downloads? Maybe not? But to say we do not need it? My experience is that it made streamed music sound better and I am not the only one who thinks this. I dont think MQA or DRM is going to be the end of music playback. It is one option for music playback, among many.

I don’t think MQA is going to be the end for music...For those who think the recording industry is not buying into MQA I posted this a few months back.
I am pretty sure the following audio companies have agreements in place to implement MQA into their current or upcoming hardware.

Audioquest (Dragonfly)
Aurender (A10)
Auralic (maybe???)
Bel Canto
Bluesound (Node, Vault series and Soundbar)
NAD (M12, M50, M32, C 390DD, M502...)
Brinkmann
CanEVER
Cocktail Audio (X35)
dCS
Esoteric
IAG
Krell (Vanguard)
Mark Levinson ( No519)
LG (LG.V30 smartphone)
Lumin
Meridian (many products)
MOON by Simaudio
MSB
Mytek
Onkyo
Pioneer (XDP-100R)
PS Audio ( PS Audio DirectStream)
Pro-Ject ( now owner of Musical Fidelity)
Sony (NW ZX300 and NW-A40)
Teac
Technics ( SU-G30)
Wapax

Nevertheless, so many more companies are not going the MQA route.

There are so many formats to choose from and vinyl has made such a come back, I don’t see the problem. Artists will contine to find ways to use computers and the internet to create and distribute their music and with the ever increasing wide bandwidth for streaming hi-res files, I don’t see MQA causing the sky to fall.

MQA is not a solution, it is an option, a choice. I do not download hi-rez files, I like to stream music. I had used Spotify, but I find MQA on Tidal sounds better because of the hi-rez. I did worry or at least wonder around the years after 2000 how record companies and recording artists would continue to make money when Napster, Gnutella, Freenet, Kazaa, Limewire and other free music sharing music online companies were allowing artists music to be shared and CD sales, along with other music sales (such as albums) were declining year by year. Tidal is one of the most generous companies as artists make about $0.0003 per play. That was info from 2017. Amazing, Napster had top payouts at $0.0167 to $0.0190 and Tidal was 2nd. I guess after Napster was sued from the major record labels and users could not steal music any longer, some balance was brought make into music making by artists and music enjoyment by consumers.
Therefore Tidal allows me the option to stream hi-rez files, which sound great to me, they add albums all the times and I know musical artists are getting paid for their part. Paying for Tidal is not different from buying an album, buying a CD or paying HD Tracks for a download.
I will admit that I do not like all the licensing fees that MQA has built into their technology. But I do not think MQA will last long. Once the bandwidth opens up past 5g I think? hi-res files will be passed without any MQA needed.