MQA has signed a multi year deal with Universal Music Group to license their entire catalog of songs into the high resolution format’s repertoire. With additional gains made procuring inroads to several streaming options (including Tidal), MQA is quickly grabbing a foothold in the market for even bigger aspirations. MQA is now one catalog closer to “Stream the Studio” that was the emphasis for the company’s presence at CES this year. The addition of Universal brings many big names in music to the list including the Eagles, U2 and the Beatles.
For those unfamiliar with the format, downloads (and now streaming services) are MQA verified at the playback point, allowing listeners to ensure the music they are hearing is the same as what was originally mixed at the source. An MQA file is also folded down during encoding, so larger resolutions can be played streamed across a smaller bandwidth for better fidelity upon retrieval.
From the press release:
“Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA, commented, “We’re very pleased to be working with Universal Music to achieve our goal of moving studio-quality sound into the mainstream. Universal’s timeless catalogue and impressive artist roster will fuel music streaming services worldwide and enable the premium listening experience for all music fans.”
Michael Nash, Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy at UMG, said, “The promise of Hi-Res Audio streaming is becoming a reality, with one service already in the market and several more committed to launching this year. With MQA, we are working with a partner whose technology is among the best solutions for streaming Hi-Res Audio, and one that doesn’t ask music fans to compromise on sound quality for convenience. We’re looking forward to working with Mike and his team at MQA to make our industry-leading roster of artists and recordings available to music fans in the highest quality possible.”
MQA – the award-winning technology which delivers master quality audio in a file small enough to stream – debuted on global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL, at the beginning of this year, and is also available internationally on several music download services.”
More info: http://www.mqa.co.uk/