Qobuz Music - I'm missing some features
For the last few months I've been reading and researching streaming music services. I'm keen to find a service that pays a fair (or fairer) price to artists.
It's not an easy task as most of the providers don't publish much data. The articles I've read, written independently, are making a number of general assumptions so I'm not sure how accurate they are -- useful none the less.
Currently I subscribe to Amazon Music Family. However, I've been gradually moving away from big tech for more independent options wherever possible. Music is my last challenge. I accept that I will not find a small service provider with access to the millions of tracks, so I am stuck with larger corporates. If I can find a good pricing model I will be happy.
Qobuz
Qobuz are quite open about their payment levels to artists; I like that honesty.
It ticks a lot of my boxes.
I've signed up for the month's free trial and I am just over two weeks in. However, I'm struggling with a few areas:
Lack of 'Radio'
I enjoy the Radio feature on Amazon Music, and was pleased to read that it is available on Qobuz. It's a great way for me to discover new artists.
When I hear a song I like, or an artist, I can click the radio icon and it will play me a selection of similar songs. I'm not sure what magic happens in the sausage machine, but I guess it is based on genre; similar artists; others who like similar artists. I'm guessing.
Disappointingly, this feature is only available on the mobile app. I mostly work in Linux, and play via the web browser. Radio is not available. Out of curiosity, I booted into Windows; installed the native Windows App; same thing. Not available!
Digging through their help, I finally found a note that it is only on the mobile app. Tut! Why?!
The result is that I feel I am missing out on discovery.
No smart speaker support
I knew this was not available when I researched Qobuz. They have no app for your smart speaker. Not sure why.. is it a conscious decision, or are the smart speaker providers not allowing it!
I didn't think it would be a problem, as I could stream via my desktop to Bluetooth speakers/headphones. However, as discussed above, desktop has a limitation. I also miss the ability to talk to my device and ask for something.
Data Use
I don't normally pay any attention to my mobile data use. I have a huge allowance and never get near it. However, I was in the car last week, and fired up Qobuz via the car's entertainment system. I drove for two hours and at the end my phone politely noted excessive data usage. A quick look at the stats and I had consumed 1.1 GB in the last two hours.
I checked the settings, and I had the option "on" to reduce the streaming audio quality from 24-bit 192Khz (Hi-Res) to 16-bit/44.1Khz (CD quality).
I need to look into this one further and do some testing as that seems a lot of data.
What now?
I'm not sure. The discovery radio is a huge thing for me, or lack of it. I really enjoy being introduced to new artists.
At the moment I am thinking I will cancel Qobuz.
What are you using?