What HiFi "MQA is going into administration"

[james]

Just saw this .. My guess is that they will be bought by Tidal .. But interesting ..

https://www.whathifi.com/news/mqa-is- ... ration

"MQA Ltd, the company behind the MQA digital music technology, is going into administration.

We don't have many details at the moment, and it's uncertain if the firm's partnership with Tidal – which uses MQA technology to enable its 'hi-res' audio streams – will be affected. But we do know that MQA Ltd is seeking a buyer and has undergone a restructuring process.

The full statement from MQA reads as follows:

"Following the recent positive reception to MQA’s latest technology (SCL6), there has been increased international interest in buying MQA Ltd. At the same time, MQA’s main financial backer is seeking an exit. In order to be in the best position to pursue market opportunities and expedite this process, the company has undergone a restructuring initiative, which includes entering into administration and is comparable to Chapter 11 in the US.

"During this process, MQA continues to trade as usual alongside its partners.

"We won't be commenting further while negotiations take place."

This is a breaking news story, we'll bring you more details as they emerge."

[hudo]

Saw some financial reports. Very strange: 14M+ in depth, gross profit of 600k per year, losing 1M+ every year, meanwhile CEO taking 400k in salary. Whats their expenses even? They licence codecs and just collecting royalties! Or am i missing something...

[dubber]

Apparently Tidal will soon support Hi-Res FLAC alongside their MQA offering, although Qobuz is significantly cheaper at their current price points.

[hudo]

Apparently Tidal will soon support Hi-Res FLAC alongside their MQA offering, although Qobuz is significantly cheaper at their current price points.

Did Qobuz price recently went down?
Some countries are much cheaper in Tidal, for example i pay 10€/month for Hifi Plus plan, which is 1/2 of normal price.
Its worth checking if Qobuz catalog is better these days, 2y ago i couldn't find many albums.

[Fran]

I use Qobuz.... and basically I find close to everything I've ever searched for.... but of course that is only the stuff I would be searching for.

App isn't quite as slick as others, but you sorta get used to it.

[frd1996]

They licence codecs and just collecting royalties! Or am i missing something...

As far as I know, and I could be wrong about it, they licence decoders only. All encoding happens in house and is fully under their control, i.e. recording studios deliver master files to them and get MQAs back. I am guessing that it's an automated process with customer web portal, web API, or something like that.