I will never stream... 😁
High Infidelity
I’m unapologetically old school. I own rather than lease my car and not because I think it drives better that way. I own my music and not because I think it sounds better than streaming. I’m puzzled as to why it’s cheaper to buy a CD, have it shipped home and rip it rather than downloading it from a popular digital audio store. I’m disappointed that artists who bypass the CD process seem to only offer MP3 downloads. But I digress…
I recently purchased music for download on Qobuz. The website identified the download as CD quality 16 bits, 44.1 kHz. The downloaded files turned out to have varying bitrates between 756 & 938 Kbps rather than 1,411 Kbps. I contacted Qobuz through their help messaging. They thanked me for bringing this to their attention and stated they would request a corrected copy from the record label. They unfortunately could not give me a timeframe as this would be up to the record label.
I requested a refund on the basis that I purchased CD quality tracks for immediate download per their website description and the prospect of potentially getting them at an undermined time in the future was not acceptable. I was told that Qobuz does not provide any refunds on purchased music in any circumstance. There are no exceptions to this rule. I asked to speak to a supervisor but my request was denied.
I’d like to get feedback on:
- whether others have encountered downloads that weren’t as advertised or if this was truly an exception
- what you think of their refund policy
- any possible recourse
Thanks
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- 35 posts total
Anyone on this site complaining about the cost of purchasing music should stop right now. When you're willing to spend $10k+ to stream free content you can't really comment on the cost of music when you're not willing to help support the artists that make the music you enjoy. I'm not sure how a download service would refund a digital download because it's not at the preferred bitrate. I used to have an account with E-music back before streaming services existed. Bought quite a bit over the many years knowing full-well I was getting mp3s up to 320kbps but not CD quality. As for continuing to purchase digital downloads, I still do but of select artists whose music is out of print or the CD/vinyl format is too expensive. There is a Japanese ambient artist I like whose music is now mostly available via high-res download. On occasion a vinyl copy might pop up for lots of $. If I buy CD or vinyl from the Bleep website I get a complimentary FLAC copy that I download onto my home server, both as a backup but also as a listening convenience factory when I queue up multiple albums to listen to in a session. I also find that not every streaming service has what I want or is going to keep complete cataloga or specific versions of an album available on their service. I see songs and albums disappear on Spotify all the time. At the end of the day, chalk your purchase up to the price of listening to your favorite artists. Think of your lower res copy like a vinyl copy that someone on discogs over-rated as M/NM instead of the VG it really is. |
As the OP pointed out, the “renting music” indefinitely just sticks in my craw. They simply took a page from software companies where you used to buy/own a program but now you have to license it annually. It sucks! I want to OWN my music and have it at my fingertips, not exist in the ether where I have to pay a monthly fee to access it. Besides, I could conceive of a future where certain old songs become “problematic” for some reason and simply disappear - or, like Disney, someone decides to change the lyrics of a song. I want to own physical media. Buy it once and own it forever. Besides, it sounds better! The few discs I own in Dolby ATMOS (Pink Floyd, Rush & Beatles) smoke the compressed versions I hear when I stream Amazon music. For those that love the streaming model and don’t care about physical media’s demise, picture the next step being you have to pay a monthly license fee for your actual audio gear! Think like when you had to rent the cable box. You get a discounted piece of electronics (DAC, steamer, etc) but have to pay a monthly fee to keep it active. Does that sound good to you too? It will cost you every month but don’t worry, they will provide firmware updates constantly so you feel like your actually getting something in return for your paid subscription that will never end… |
I find streaming to be very convenient. I still have a turntable (SYSTEMDEK IIX) and CD player (Naim CDi) for the rare occasion when I listen to physical media (maybe five percent of the time). The comment regarding people being too lazy to get up and change their CD put me in mind of the Proceed CD library 100 CD player of the 1990’s. |
The OP @rpmpam already stated that he download AIFF files - those are full lossless 16/44.1 resolution. He got what he paid for and hopefully understands that now. This thread should really be closed to prevent perpetuating this claim against Qobuz. |
- 35 posts total