Qobuz - How to report defective/deficient tracks?

[Pierre Qobuz]

@Pierre Qobuz didn't know that Qobuz was here. I want to provide some feedback to you.

1) You have no radio stations, why? Many times, I just want a specific types of music auto played to me, radio stations are very important.
2) Your playlist is almost non-existent. For example, I can't find any good workout play list in while in the gym.
3) Your AI for music discovery is too basic. I rarely discover new music I would like that I have never heard of before with Qobuz.

The great thing about Qobuz that no one else have is the ability of your app to connect to a DAC with WASAPI and ASIO, I think you are the only ones to do that, which is why I signed up in the first play.

I want to provide you with customers' voice on the three things you can do better above.

Dear @CleanSound, thank you very much for your feedbacks and enquiries that are linked to your personal use.

- Radio Stations -> We are actively working on improving our suggestions and features to discover new music. Radio stations are part of it and although I cannot communicate on a specific release date, I invite you to stay tuned with the regular updates we do in the coming months.

- Playlists -> Please believe that we do our best to ensure that our playlists meet all expectations in a wide variety of genres and situations. You may not have found what you were looking for in the search engine. We're sorry to hear this and will take it into account to improve and diversify this category of playlists. However, some workout playlists related to your request (these are from our UK store), including:
Disco Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/5839005
90s Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/3402125
Running https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1749812
Back in Shape https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2689770
Michelle Obama's Workout Playlist https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2718708
Metal Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/5871680
Goth Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/6295873

- AI for music discovery -> cf. "Radio Stations" as this is part of the topics we are actively working on and for which you should see improvements and new proposals in the coming months.

Also feel free to contact our Customer Service whenever you need it, and to join the Qobuz Club which is an open and free community where you can share your experience, suggestions and questions about Qobuz. We are always very open for feedback and we nurture the relationship with our users to keep improving our service.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

Thanks Pierre. I’m normally using the Mac app or Audirvana on the Mac, but I’ll try the mobile app and look out for that pop-up.

To correct my previous message, I would like to point out that this service is only available to our beta testers via the TestFlight application. If you wish to become a beta tester, you can make a request via our Customer Service or the Qobuz Club, depending on the number of places available. Thank you for your understanding.

 

[LouB]

Very nice too have Pierre Qobuz here ! I'm in USA & think Qobuz is a great value & IMO the best no nonsense provider out there.
Just remember Pierre in most cases less is more ! And I'm not talking user price, just pay the artists, keep your platform uncluttered & simple as possible.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

A UK user, I came to Qobuz from Spotify, after the Neil Young shenanigans! Through the hi-fi using Sonos.
No complaints whatsoever. Possibly not as complete a catalogue as some other streaming companies, but tinkering with the searches generally gets me there!

 

[CleanSound]

Dear @CleanSound, thank you very much for your feedbacks and enquiries that are linked to your personal use.

- Radio Stations -> We are actively working on improving our suggestions and features to discover new music. Radio stations are part of it and although I cannot communicate on a specific release date, I invite you to stay tuned with the regular updates we do in the coming months.

- Playlists -> Please believe that we do our best to ensure that our playlists meet all expectations in a wide variety of genres and situations. You may not have found what you were looking for in the search engine. We're sorry to hear this and will take it into account to improve and diversify this category of playlists. However, some workout playlists related to your request (these are from our UK store), including:
Disco Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/5839005
90s Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/3402125
Running https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/1749812
Back in Shape https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2689770
Michelle Obama's Workout Playlist https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/2718708
Metal Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/5871680
Goth Workout https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/6295873

- AI for music discovery -> cf. "Radio Stations" as this is part of the topics we are actively working on and for which you should see improvements and new proposals in the coming months.

Also feel free to contact our Customer Service whenever you need it, and to join the Qobuz Club which is an open and free community where you can share your experience, suggestions and questions about Qobuz. We are always very open for feedback and we nurture the relationship with our users to keep improving our service.

Thank you @Pierre Qobuz for your thoughtful response.

May I also add few other suggestions?

1. Give users the option to make their playlist anonymously public, so users aren't just limited to the playlist that Qobuz staff curates. You potential can even use these playlist for machine learning.
2. Your music genre categorization can definitely get more granular, having sub-genres and sub-sub-genres will be huge! I do realized it may overwhelm some users by having this granular level of music genre categorization; perhaps give the user an option to view how granular genre/sub-genre categorization they can see. And I'm sure having this granular level of genre categorization will help with your AI implementation.
3. Give the user an option to level/loudness match all tracks played. You have no idea how often I have to increase the volume and decrease the volume depending on a track.
4. The Qobuz app for Windows used to have the feature where the app will remember the last speaker output selected. So if I shut off my DAC, the output will go to the computer default, but when I turned my DAC back on, it will remember that was selected last and goes back to that DAC. That feature is no longer available, please bring that back!
   1. So far, I only know of Qobuz Windows app that have the feature to support WASAPI and ASIO, this is huge. Whatever you do, keep investing in this feature and only make it better.
5. Many people stream music with a computer and they have a computer that they made as a dedicated media server. Give the user the option to make the Qobuz windows app operate at high priority, ensuring that it gets the most CPU cycles, memory and network bandwidth.
6. Speaking of using PC as a streamer, create an Android/iPhone app that one can install on their phone to control the Windows Qobuz app that is running on that computer so that the users don't have to rely on a monitor or Windows remote desktop to control the music on the Qobuz windows app.

I know these are a lot of investments Qobuz would have to make, but don't forget you are swimming in a big sea of competition, I believe these features is what will differentiate Qobuz and provide a better value proposition.


I look forward to see whatever new features comes out from Qobuz.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

A UK user, I came to Qobuz from Spotify, after the Neil Young shenanigans! Through the hi-fi using Sonos.
No complaints whatsoever. Possibly not as complete a catalogue as some other streaming companies, but tinkering with the searches generally gets me there!

Thank you @DavidEdwinAston for your feedback and glad you landed on Qobuz. It is true that our current search engine needs a little help sometimes by specifying in the filters whether you are looking for an album, a track, an artist or a playlist, to find the right product. We are actively working on improving the search results because in principle, the catalog differences between platforms are very rare. If you see any, even after looking carefully, do not hesitate to let us know, via our Customer Service, the Qobuz Club, or me directly by private message.

 

[ars blanco]

I have the same issue as reported by @theREALdotnet. Today I downloaded an album, and one of the track is broken, at some point it becomes just noise until the end of the track. Of course I tried to download it in mp3 and flac, several times, but same issue. So it's not a broken download, but a broken track on Qobuz servers.

@Pierre Qobuz So if I understand you, there's no simple way to report that? I mean, in the end it's just about firing an email and hoping it reaches the right person. And what you suggest is to « make a request via our Customer Service » to become a beta-tester « depending on the number of places available », in order to download a beta app for mobile, so that I can take a screenshot in the hope of seeing a popup.... Wow, it's an uphill battle, for what should be straightforward, I just want a contact point to say "this track has a problem".

Also, I don't use mobile, I just use my web browser and download songs on my laptop, old-school. Also, screenshots don't really demonstrate very well an audio problem

To finish, from the website, on the download page, there's a link to Contact support, leading me to this screen:

But of course, this "chat icon in the bottom-right border of the screen" was nowhere to be seen, never ever...

So, well, do you have a better suggestion to report broken tracks?

Thanks for passing by this forum!

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

Thank you @Pierre Qobuz for your thoughtful response.

May I also add few other suggestions?

1. Give users the option to make their playlist anonymously public, so users aren't just limited to the playlist that Qobuz staff curates. You potential can even use these playlist for machine learning.
2. Your music genre categorization can definitely get more granular, having sub-genres and sub-sub-genres will be huge! I do realized it may overwhelm some users by having this granular level of music genre categorization; perhaps give the user an option to view how granular genre/sub-genre categorization they can see. And I'm sure having this granular level of genre categorization will help with your AI implementation.
3. Give the user an option to level/loudness match all tracks played. You have no idea how often I have to increase the volume and decrease the volume depending on a track.
4. The Qobuz app for Windows used to have the feature where the app will remember the last speaker output selected. So if I shut off my DAC, the output will go to the computer default, but when I turned my DAC back on, it will remember that was selected last and goes back to that DAC. That feature is no longer available, please bring that back!
   1. So far, I only know of Qobuz Windows app that have the feature to support WASAPI and ASIO, this is huge. Whatever you do, keep investing in this feature and only make it better.
5. Many people stream music with a computer and they have a computer that they made as a dedicated media server. Give the user the option to make the Qobuz windows app operate at high priority, ensuring that it gets the most CPU cycles, memory and network bandwidth.
6. Speaking of using PC as a streamer, create an Android/iPhone app that one can install on their phone to control the Windows Qobuz app that is running on that computer so that the users don't have to rely on a monitor or Windows remote desktop to control the music on the Qobuz windows app.

I know these are a lot of investments Qobuz would have to make, but don't forget you are swimming in a big sea of competition, I believe these features is what will differentiate Qobuz and provide a better value proposition.


I look forward to see whatever new features comes out from Qobuz.

Dear @CleanSound,
Thank you for this comprehensive feedback. I have shared your suggestions with the relevant teams. Some topics are under development, others will be studied and prioritized based on overall need and our team bandwidth. Thanks again for taking the time to share your suggestions and I hope that you will see these improvements gradually come to Qobuz.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

I have the same issue as reported by @theREALdotnet. Today I downloaded an album, and one of the track is broken, at some point it becomes just noise until the end of the track. Of course I tried to download it in mp3 and flac, several times, but same issue. So it's not a broken download, but a broken track on Qobuz servers.

@Pierre Qobuz So if I understand you, there's no simple way to report that? I mean, in the end it's just about firing an email and hoping it reaches the right person. And what you suggest is to « make a request via our Customer Service » to become a beta-tester « depending on the number of places available », in order to download a beta app for mobile, so that I can take a screenshot in the hope of seeing a popup.... Wow, it's an uphill battle, for what should be straightforward, I just want a contact point to say "this track has a problem".

Also, I don't use mobile, I just use my web browser and download songs on my laptop, old-school. Also, screenshots don't really demonstrate very well an audio problem

To finish, from the website, on the download page, there's a link to Contact support, leading me to this screen:

View attachment 324753


But of course, this "chat icon in the bottom-right border of the screen" was nowhere to be seen, never ever...

So, well, do you have a better suggestion to report broken tracks?

Thanks for passing by this forum!

Dear @ars blanco, thank you for your message. Have you tried to contact our Customer Service to report the problem on your downloaded track ? Writing to our Customer Service team is the simplest and fastest way to get your questions answered. Thank you for your feedback regarding the visibility of the icon for our Customer Service contact feature, although we are striving to implement best practices in the sector, I have shared the information with the relevant teams who will look into it if this feedback becomes more frequent. Sincerely. Pierre

 

[Saponetto]

Hello Pierre, nice to see my favourite streaming service present here at ASR!

I'm currently on an yearly Studio subscription, going due on january 24.
Are you guys planning update price profiles for Italian customers area also?
Thanks and Regards!

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

Hello Pierre, nice to see my favourite streaming service present here at ASR!

I'm currently on an yearly Studio subscription, going due on january 24.
Are you guys planning update price profiles for Italian customers area also?
Thanks and Regards!

Dear @Saponetto, thank you for your message. Any price change is announced at least one month in advance. Although I cannot guarantee that this will not change in the future, there is no anticipated price change in the near term for Italian customers at the moment. Sincerely. Pierre

 

[CleanSound]

Dear @CleanSound,
Thank you for this comprehensive feedback. I have shared your suggestions with the relevant teams. Some topics are under development, others will be studied and prioritized based on overall need and our team bandwidth. Thanks again for taking the time to share your suggestions and I hope that you will see these improvements gradually come to Qobuz.

@Pierre Qobuz , would you be so kind to report the release of any new features here? I have switched over to Spotify now, due to the lack of AI on Qobuz, but I am very open to going back to Qobuz should the AI feature and other features that I have listed above are released.

 

[LuvTheMusic]

Hello Pierre, how wonderful to see someone from Qobuz actively engaging with current and potential customers through this forum! BTW, I'm in the first group: current customer.

In reply to the OP, only once, a year or more ago, have I run across a defective tracks in Qobuz, in this particular case a completely defective album. I reported that to Qobuz support without result, but then reported it to the recording label, in this case Reference Recordings. They promptly took care of it on their end, presumably by sending a new file to Qobuz. So you might try the same route: reporting the problem to the source, i.e., to the record label providing the recording.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

@Pierre Qobuz , would you be so kind to report the release of any new features here? I have switched over to Spotify now, due to the lack of AI on Qobuz, but I am very open to going back to Qobuz should the AI feature and other features that I have listed above are released.

Dear @CleanSound, thank you for your question. If you'd like more information on our new features, I can indeed share the major updates here. In parallel, don't hesitate to subscribe to our newsletter and follow our news on the Qobuz Club to be informed as soon as they arrive. Sincerely.

 

[Klonatans]

Hello @Pierre Qobuz,

why some tracks of certain albums are unavailable on Qobuz? For instance, the first and the last track of Eternal - The 70th Birthday Edition by Klaus Schulze are not available for listening. The same concerns several other albums by Klaus Schulze.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

Hello @Pierre Qobuz,

why some tracks of certain albums are unavailable on Qobuz? For instance, the first and the last track of Eternal - The 70th Birthday Edition by Klaus Schulze are not available for listening. The same concerns several other albums by Klaus Schulze.

We believe it is made on purpose, not any platforms have those tracks enabled for streaming (probably due to the length).
We are contacting the label to check if it can be unlocked or not. If we have more information, I will come back to you. Thank you.

 

[Pierre Qobuz]

We believe it is made on purpose, not any platforms have those tracks enabled for streaming (probably due to the length).
We are contacting the label to check if it can be unlocked or not. If we have more information, I will come back to you. Thank you.

Dear @Klonatans, we were informed by the music catalog supplier of these 2 tracks that they are not available neither in streaming nor download on any platform. Sorry about that. Best. Pierre

 

[Klonatans]

Dear @Klonatans, we were informed by the music catalog supplier of these 2 tracks that they are not available neither in streaming nor download on any platform. Sorry about that. Best. Pierre

Dear Pierre,

thank you for the answer. I hope the label will make these tracks available some day as it's an excellent album.

 

[ahofer]

Hi @theREALdotnet, if you are using a mobile device, have you tried to open the app and take a screenshot when seeing something wrong ? A pop up will show for you to report bugs, suggestions and ask questions. Hope it helps. Sincerely.

Thanks for appearing here. One of the most frustrating things about Qobuz is how many tracks suddenly become unavailable. I add them to my Roon library, then I can’t play them. The result is my favorites migrate to Tidal…

 

[theREALdotnet]

Thanks for appearing here. One of the most frustrating things about Qobuz is how many tracks suddenly become unavailable. I add them to my Roon library, then I can’t play them. The result is my favorites migrate to Tidal…

I’ve had that happen, too, where I favourited Qobuz tracks/albums in Audirvana and suddenly they became unavailable. In my case it turned out that Qobuz had replaced them with different (higher-res?) versions. The fix was deleting the old and adding the new albums. That may obviously not always be the cause and solution.

What bugs me most is when one or two movements on a classical album are unavailable. That seems like a rather spiteful decision by the rights holders.