On the 14th of January 2016, a Press Conference was held at the Grande Armée Studio in Paris on the occasion of the takeover of Qobuz by Xandrie SA.
Those present during the conference were the following:
– Denis THÉBAUD – President of Xandrie SA
– Yves RIESEL – Co-founder of Qobuz
– Quentin LEREDDE – CTO at Qobuz
– Malcolm OUZERI – Marketing Manager at Qobuz
– Benoît RÉBUS – Manager, Hardware Partnerships at Qobuz
Qobuz announces the upcoming evolutions of its product
To continue to honour the promise of delivering a top-quality music service, Qobuz announced the following developments at the conference:
- New Qobuz Player and Qobuz Desktop applications: Hi-Res compatibility, new search engine, redesign of user interface
- The Qobuz Family subscription: The Qobuz musical experience for the entire family
- New functionalities: new tools for musical recommendation (Webradio, Algorithms, Playlists, Alerts for artists/labels), new community and social functions (Sharing,…)
- New version of API (v3): enrichment and standardization of metadata, a more plentiful and open integration with audio manufacturers and third-party applications
- An enriched mobile experience: Qobuz Mag mobile app, Hi-Res with WindowsPhone, Qobuz Music app passes to API v3
Finally, it should be noted that despite the recent situation, Qobuz ended the year with sales up 55% and introduced many important technological innovations in recent months:
- Hi-Res Streaming (world exclusive)
- Integration of Qobuz Connect with GoogleCast: supported by Google, who have made their protocol Hi-Res compatible.
- Hi-Res streaming compatibility with more than 10 prestigious audio brand partners (LINN, DEVIALET, BLUESOUND, AUDIRVANA, SAMSUNG, etc.)
- Migration to the Cloud (Amazon Web Services)
- Use of Qobuz with the Apple Watch
- Presentation of Qobuz Hi-Res streaming prototype with Sony at IFA in Berlin
An ambitious plan for development
The customer survey conducted in November 2015 with 80,000 clients and subscribers confirmed that Qobuz caters to discerning music lovers. It also revealed that Qobuz is for all enthusiastic lovers of music.
- 30% play a musical instrument (10% being the national average)
- All passionate music lovers: audiophiles, young, old, from classical to electro
With the additional resources, Qobuz intends to address a wider customer base, reaching out to all lovers of music. Qobuz now has the weapons to develop this growing market.
With the takeover by Xandrie, Qobuz will benefit from additional resources:
- 5 Million euros of investment in technical developments
- 7 Million euros of marketing investment
- Maintaining and strengthening of the team in terms of human resources
- Pooling and synergy of resources for support functions between Qobuz and Xandrie
- Strengthened presence in 9 countries Qobuz markets (France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria) and opening of new European countries.
Qobuz is the service of all music lovers, poorly served by the “mainstream” offers currently available.
- Qobuz, now edited by Xandrie SA.
Since December 29, 2015, which was the date of the judgment of the Commercial Court, French high quality online music streaming and download service Qobuz was taken over by Xandrie, specialist in culture and digital entertainment.
Among the ambitions Xandrie has for Qobuz: strengthening the Qobuz brand, its services, its positioning and indeed, its international development. This recovery allows the emergence of a new player in culture and digital entertainment.
Some Photos © Jean-Baptiste Millot