2016 Dead pool

[wgscott]

What companies, products or technologies won't survive 2016?

 

Arse Technica lists Rdio and Tidal

[rn701]

DSD, Atmos. Might take longer than 2016.

[crenca]

What companies, products or technologies won't survive 2016?

 

Arse Technica lists Rdio and Tidal

 

While Tidal as a particular company may not make it (of course this is all too true for any company - look at GM or Sears), I believe hi-res (or at least 16/44) streaming as a technology is certainly going to be around even if it is always a subset of the total streaming market...

[trappy]

What companies, products or technologies won't survive 2016?

 

Arse Technica lists Rdio and Tidal

 

Rdio died at the end of 2015.

[new_media]

Rdio was purchased by Pandora and shut down last month.

 

Not sure how much longer Barnes and Noble can hang out, but I expect they will last the year.

[CR250]

Donald Trump's hair. I don't think the technology exists to keep that stuff under control for much longer.

[Musicophile]

At least Qobuz survived end of last year, and is safe for a foreseeable future.

[orgel]

RIM?

 

--David

[Paul R]

I agree with Tidal's days being numbered. The death knell is Apple Music. The nail in the coffin for it will be if Apple Music starts providing lossless streaming of CD quality or higher.

 

I think the Pono will go the way of the Dodo this year. Too expensive, too clumsy of a design, and too much of a closed environment to survive. That's a shame I suppose.

 

I think this year may see the end of several favorite audiophile music players as well. Not sure on that one; it depends a lot on how quickly the developers react to consumer demands.

 

I hope the Apple Watch goes to history this year, but it will probably hang around forever.

 

Netflix may finally give up on physical discs this year and becoming streaming only company.

 

-Paul

[Melvin]

Donald Trump's hair. I don't think the technology exists to keep that stuff under control for much longer.

 

It's like topiary .. amazing what can be accomplished with skilled hands.

[Audio_ELF]

Netflix may finally give up on physical discs this year and becoming streaming only company.

Boooooo... Discs are much better than streaming!

[ADCO]

Why Tidal?.....did I miss something about there business, kindly share if anyone has the facts...I hate being out of the loop...please and thanks

 

as for dead pool...the size of goal tenders equipment in hockey

[Ajax]

Why Tidal?.....did I miss something about there business, kindly share if anyone has the facts...

 

By chance I downloaded the trial version of Tidal today and would also like to know if anyone has some "inside" information on the profitability or otherwise of Tidal's business model. Is the author of the article that Bill refers to in the OP simply surmising that the increased competition from industry giants Apple and Google will ultimately sound the death bell for Tidal or are there financial accounts available? In Australia only publicly listed companies need to make their accounts public.

 

Without knowing the numbers I would have thought, like Paul, that Pono would be more prone to failure if for no other reason than the bad press it continues to receive (due to the limited Hi Res content available that Neil based his marketing around). I know it is a generalisation, however, most artists (especially geniuses like Neil Young) make lousy business mangers and those that succeed in the music industry usually have excellent management that act as a buffer between the real world and the artist. There are lots of stories about Neil's eccentricities (cancelling tours because the "muse" isn't there) and that personality type does not bode well for creating a disciplined businesses model and the organisational structure required to support it.

 

Interesting quote from a interview in 2012:

 

"His longtime manager and friend Elliot Roberts describes Young as “always willing to roll the dice and loose. He has no problem with failure as long as he is doing work he is happy with. Whether it ends up as a win or loss on a consumer level is not as much of an interest to him as one might think.”

 

My reaction to the dismissal of his initial CEO, John Hamm, in July 2014 was "Oh no, here we go".

 

Ajax

 

Disclaimer: I am an avid Neil Young fan and would love for Pono to succeed.

[crenca]

Tidal has gone through a number of high profile executive "firings" and is generally known not to be profitable. That, and the "insider" industry bias is against anything being run by musicians themselves so "most" in the industry simply assume its days are numbered. I think a recent poll of "music industry executives" had them assuming Tidal would fail this year. However, all that is speculation at this point - all rumors/assumptions/bias.

 

I would simply subscribe to Tidal and enjoy it - it if it fails next month so be it. I for one am hooked on the "lossless" streaming concept and believe if Tidal fails tomorrow someone will step in and make something equivalent available. They will have to if they want my $dollars$, as I will never pay for lossy streaming again...

[realhifi]

 

I would simply subscribe to Tidal and enjoy it - it if it fails next month so be it. I for one am hooked on the "lossless" streaming concept and believe if Tidal fails tomorrow someone will step in and make something equivalent available. They will have to if they want my $dollars$, as I will never pay for lossy streaming again...

 

There already are other lossless streaming alternatives to Tidal in Deezer and (at least I believe they are still afloat) Qobuz.

[ADCO]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... Deezer is lossless if you are an "elite" subscriber only and runs only on Sonos....

 

speaking completely for myself I don't find Sonos to be a "high end" product.... Of coarse that's just my opinion

[Axiom05]

Boooooo... Discs are much better than streaming!

 

+1

[crenca]

There already are other lossless streaming alternatives to Tidal in Deezer and (at least I believe they are still afloat) Qobuz.

 

Also, Qobuz is Euro zone only (not sure if it is even all of Europe). Not an option here in the good ol' USofA...

[realhifi]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... Deezer is lossless if you are an "elite" subscriber only and runs only on Sonos....

 

speaking completely for myself I don't find Sonos to be a "high end" product.... Of coarse that's just my opinion

 

Deezer is $15 for lossless and can be accessed on the desktop through a web browser much as any other service can be. You do not need to go through Sonos to use it.

[Paul R]

Correct me if I'm wrong ... Deezer is lossless if you are an "elite" subscriber only and runs only on Sonos....

 

speaking completely for myself I don't find Sonos to be a "high end" product.... Of coarse that's just my opinion

 

So - CD Quality streaming from Tidal is considered cutting edge and the neatest thing since sliced bread. CD Quality streaming from Sono's is considered ho hum?

 

By the way, you can stream Tidal, Apple Music, and Deezer, and Qobuz too, at full quality, from a $349 Sono's Connect. How is that not high end, given the sources never exceed CD quality?

[TubeLover]

Boooooo... Discs are much better than streaming!

 

Completely agree Eloise. Streaming is video (and especially sonic) garbage in comparison to the blu rays I own, and the ones I rent weekly from Netflix. If everything goes to streaming thanks to the general laziness/lack of attention span, and totally non-discriminating attitude of the younger masses, I'm not sure what I would do. I absolutely love films, but I couldn't accept streaming as the only alternative and I certainly could not buy every film I wanted to see.

 

JC

[TubeLover]

So - CD Quality streaming from Tidal is considered cutting edge and the neatest thing since sliced bread. CD Quality streaming from Sono's is considered ho hum?

 

"By the way, you can stream Tidal, Apple Music, and Deezer, and Qobuz too, at full quality, from a $349 Sono's Connect. How is that not high end, given the sources never exceed CD quality?

 

Are you sure about that "at full quality" statement Paul? Granted, my experience is somewhat limited, but I've never seen Sonos perform at that level.

 

JC

[TubeLover]

There already are other lossless streaming alternatives to Tidal in Deezer and (at least I believe they are still afloat) Qobuz.

 

David, I have no experience with either of the other alternatives that you mention, but consider Tidal indispensable, especially because of the depth and quality of their catalog of music. They even offer remastered discs when they are available. Do Deezer and Qubuz offer the same thing? And can they be accessed from a network player like my Aurender or the equivalent without the need for a pc? That's the deal breaker for me.

 

JC

[ADCO]

So - CD Quality streaming from Tidal is considered cutting edge and the neatest thing since sliced bread. CD Quality streaming from Sono's is considered ho hum?

 

By the way, you can stream Tidal, Apple Music, and Deezer, and Qobuz too, at full quality, from a $349 Sono's Connect. How is that not high end, given the sources never exceed CD quality?

 

I certainly did not say that Tidal was " the neatest thing since sliced bread".... Clearly there are some fans here though

as for my comment on Deezer.... To be clear I do not subscribe ... But.... On their website it clearly states that the "lossless" is available for Sonos users only.... Now , I'm no intellectual Titan to be sure but I have owned a Sonos and it was sonically inferior to my PC JRiver setup in every subjective sonic description I can offer . And clearly I don't have to tout the virtues of multi point usage of JRiver to effectively do whatever Sonos does.... Only better... Again IMO, safe to say I'm just not a fan of the Sonos platform .

[firedog]

Love Tidal. Especially since seamless integration into Roon.

Wasn't it publicized that Tidal has a million paying subscribers? That seems like a number that bodes well for the company surviving, at least in the short term.

I don't know how many paying subscribers they need for long term survival, but don't believe they need numbers like the numbers of people who subscribe to iTunes/Apple to survive. Many products survive as quality products without being the market leader in terms of numbers.