MQA is Vaporware

[Ralf11]

a Concern that is Going Down

[KeenObserver]

For the most recent accounting year MQA Ltd lost 4.6 million Pounds.  The year before they lost 7.1 million Pounds.  At that rate in five years they will be losing almost nothing. Unprecedented demand for the product!  Must be those presentations that Bob Stuart and crew give.

[KeenObserver]

11 hours ago, crenca said:

I doubt things are as they appear.  The losses, which may or may not be an accounting maneuver, must be serving a function (tax?) to the parent company.

 

It occurred to me that maybe they did not want it known that there was an infusion of money into the scheme.  If a major investor is putting money into the scheme at this point it is because they expect a major cash stream in the future.  The only way for that to happen at this point is for the MQA players to force MQA down the throats of the music industry.  Do the MQA backers and their allied labels have the clout?  Do they risk the backlash?  Sony received major backlash for the root kit fiasco.

[Fast and Bulbous]

Look to the investors and shareholders. Those with significant control. Follow the money... And the breadcrumbs.. . . . .  .  .  .   .    .    .

 

FWIW, here is snapshot of 2017 Summary, filed in good time for the deadline last year...

 

 

 

And the full accounts...
 

MQA Accounts 2017.pdf

[Currawong]

Wow, that income is amazingly poor. Heck, I knew headphone amp makers that were making over $1m/year. Heck, years back, one guy who was making portable headphone amps was raking in so much he bought a Lambo. And if you want talk about tiny markets, headphones amps are a poster child.

[lucretius]

MQA stock is really beginning to look like it was a pump and dump stock. I'm wondering how much of the share ownership was via private placements? Were the record labels who invested duped? Was Reinet duped?

[jma2]

I am not a financial specialist, but these accumulated debt figures 2016-2018 do not look very convincing.

Wouldn't MQA in the meantime fit the definition of a "zombie company"? Money being cheap and all...

 

Jan

[The Computer Audiophile]

Bob’s first step in getting the olympics broadcast with MQA. 
 

https://www.mqa.co.uk/news/post/mqa-wowow-collaboration

 

[mansr]

36 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Bob’s first step in getting the olympics broadcast with MQA. 
 

https://www.mqa.co.uk/news/post/mqa-wowow-collaboration

Wouldn't the paralympics be a better place for MQA?

 

(No disrespect towards the athletes intended.)

[Rt66indierock]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Bob’s first step in getting the olympics broadcast with MQA. 
 

https://www.mqa.co.uk/news/post/mqa-wowow-collaboration

 

Good time to remind folks my best musical experience in 2014 was The Killers live from Hangout Fest. TV to stereo with a y-cable.

 

Now off to test prototype Titleist golf balls.

[KeenObserver]

3 hours ago, lucretius said:

MQA stock is really beginning to look like it was a pump and dump stock. I'm wondering how much of the share ownership was via private placements? Were the record labels who invested duped? Was Reinet duped?

 

The business plan projected MQA as being the standard used in the music industry.  As such it would have had a lock on the entire music chain, collecting royalties at each step.  They were expecting it to be a cash cow.  All at the expense of the music consumer.

 

As I said,  the window of opportunity for MQA was ten or fifteen years ago.  As time goes by MQA is seen as being more and more useless and as being simply a tax on the music consumer.  Collectively, the music consuming public needs to drive a stake through the heart of MQA.

[KeenObserver]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Bob’s first step in getting the olympics broadcast with MQA. 
 

https://www.mqa.co.uk/news/post/mqa-wowow-collaboration

 

 

Grasping at straws?  Kind of like a Presidential candidate going to a local grease pig contest looking for votes.

 

Is there any theoretical value to using MQA to broadcast an athletic event?

[Ran]

2 minutes ago, KeenObserver said:

Is there any theoretical value to using MQA to broadcast an athletic event?

Sure. It will guarantee that the broadcast will be exactly like the athletes intended 😉

[KeenObserver]

11 minutes ago, Ran said:

Sure. It will guarantee that the broadcast will be exactly like the athletes intended 😉

 

Absolutely!  The last time I watched the Olympics I said to myself: " Gosh, this broadcast could sure use some de-blurring".

[rickca]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Bob’s first step in getting the olympics broadcast with MQA. 
 

https://www.mqa.co.uk/news/post/mqa-wowow-collaboration

 

Does this mean that MQA wants to put a decoder on every cable set top box and Apple TV/Roku/Amazon Fire TV in the world?

[KeenObserver]

3 hours ago, rickca said:

Does this mean that MQA wants to put a decoder on every cable set top box and Apple TV/Roku/Amazon Fire TV in the world?

 

Well,  that would certainly be a value added proposition!

 

Did I say that with a straight face?

[KeenObserver]

MQA is finding "partners" in the most obscure places.  Do any of these people understand what they are getting into?  Are these people desperate?

[MikeyFresh]

1 hour ago, KeenObserver said:

Are these people desperate?

 

I don't think so, more the other way around. None of these MQA partners need do anything that would cost them much, I'd like to think they are keenly aware of that and are only cutting deals with MQA that cost the partner next to nothing.

 

The label's ownership stake in MQA is one such example, they paid next to nothing for it. 

 

Based on the ridiculously low Turnover posted in MQA's financial results, it does not appear they have been successful on any level in cutting deals that produce real revenue in the here and now.

 

If I were a partner or potential partner, I'd fiercely negotiate only the most favorable deal terms with MQA, otherwise just walk away. It should be abundantly clear by now that MQA needs partners much worse than those partners need MQA.

 

That pathetic top line number in MQA's financials would seem to indicate the partners are aware of MQA's desperation, and have taken advantage of that, none of them are really paying MQA much of anything to date.

 

While Jbara (or even a bit player like Forsythe in their U.S. operation) does have ties to various industry segments, they've failed to effectively leverage that in such a way as to actually generate top line results, much less bottom line.

 

Failed miserably would be more descriptive, when MQA's top line number is exceeded by a single Director's renumeration (among their 21 employees). I wonder if that's Jbara pulling in the £403,494, or is that actually Bob himself?

[The Computer Audiophile]

29 minutes ago, MikeyFresh said:

If I were a partner or potential partner, I'd fiercely negotiate only the most favorable deal terms with MQA, otherwise just walk away.

That’s what Fiio did a couple years ago. Told MQA to pretty much give it to them or they’d walk. They walked. 

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

4 hours ago, MikeyFresh said:

 

I don't think so, more the other way around. None of these MQA partners need do anything that would cost them much, I'd like to think they are keenly aware of that and are only cutting deals with MQA that cost the partner next to nothing.

 

The label's ownership stake in MQA is one such example, they paid next to nothing for it. 

 

Based on the ridiculously low Turnover posted in MQA's financial results, it does not appear they have been successful on any level in cutting deals that produce real revenue in the here and now.

 

If I were a partner or potential partner, I'd fiercely negotiate only the most favorable deal terms with MQA, otherwise just walk away. It should be abundantly clear by now that MQA needs partners much worse than those partners need MQA.

 

That pathetic top line number in MQA's financials would seem to indicate the partners are aware of MQA's desperation, and have taken advantage of that, none of them are really paying MQA much of anything to date.

 

While Jbara (or even a bit player like Forsythe in their U.S. operation) does have ties to various industry segments, they've failed to effectively leverage that in such a way as to actually generate top line results, much less bottom line.

 

Failed miserably would be more descriptive, when MQA's top line number is exceeded by a single Director's renumeration (among their 21 employees). I wonder if that's Jbara pulling in the £403,494, or is that actually Bob himself?

A most astute an accurate assessment of the situation.

 

I almost wish Lee Scrotum was still here. It would be a quite amusing to see him twist himself into a pretzel trying to spin these numbers.

 

Oh wait, he did not even know how to correctly read balance sheet, genius business consultant that he is. 😍

[skikirkwood]

18 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

A most astute an accurate assessment of the situation.

 

I almost wish Lee Scrotum was still here. It would be a quite amusing to see him twist himself into a pretzel trying to spin these numbers.

 

Oh wait, he did not even know how to correctly read balance sheet, genius business consultant that he is. 😍

 

Ex-McKinsey consultant. My first startup, Zip2, was acquired by Compaq/Altavista. The CEO of Altavista paid McKinsey to formulate a strategy for the company. After $1M they came back and told us to focus on search. Never would have thought of that! That's why I enjoyed Don Cheadle's House of Lies Showtime series so much.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

Bam! A Masterpiece article by Archimago Another home run.

 

On Audiophile Forums. Disagreements on MQA. (And Redscape preview...)

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2019/10/on-audiophile-forums-disagreements-on.html

[The Computer Audiophile]

4 minutes ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

Bam! A Masterpiece article by Archimago Another home run.

 

On Audiophile Forums. Disagreements on MQA. (And Redscape preview...)

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2019/10/on-audiophile-forums-disagreements-on.html

Agree. Nice work @Archimago. 

 

If only we knew his real name, then the article would be truthful :~)

[crenca]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

If only we knew his real name, then the article would be truthful :~)

 

If there is anything more truth than 'truth is subjective' in audiophiledom, I don't know what it is.

 

[Sonic77]

I guess their bankers cant read a financial statement.