- Music can now be organized and discovered by the record label
- Browse the winners of prestigious prices and the critics’ choices
- Hi-res sound where it is available, in both labels and prices
One of the things I really hate about streaming music is the algorithm that tends to play me things that sound really a lot like the things I’ve played. It’s fine for background music, but it’s not good to find really amazing new artists and their albums. So I’m really fascinated by Qobuz’s new features that focus on specific record companies and award winners.
Some labels are legendary: Think Stax or Blue Note, Motown or Deutsche Grammophon, Def Jam or Warp. And now Qobuz allows you to find more music from the label to the artist you are currently listening to, as well as the labels for your favorites.
The results, of course, depend a lot on the label. But there are real gems in these catalogs.
Let’s say you listen to Aphex Twin (good choice, by the way). Qobuz now makes it easy to find more Warp Records artists: Squarepusher and Broadcast, Thom Yorke with Mark Pritchard, Boards of Canada and 48 more pages with electronic awesomeness.
Prefer something a little more soulful? Stax has Melissa Etheridge, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Albert King … You get the idea.
Award -winning music discovery
The other new feature, award pages, is also really interesting. Qobuz has compiled a list of different prices and their winners, and prices include some very prestigious as well as Qobuz’s own favorites.
For example, you can browse winners of the Gramophone Award to discover some really unusual classic recordings, or you can focus on the winners of Pitchfork’s best new music awards: Beyoncé, Kendrick, Charli XCX, FKA Twigs, Bad Bunny, Vejy Weekend, Father John Misty …. There are 22 pages for this award alone.
I love this: It’s a big bunch of musical rabbit holes to lose yourself in, and I think it’s a really good fit for Qobuz’s target audience. It is long marked as the streaming service for serious music fans and audiophiles, and browsing these collections is almost as fun as going on box-rumming for new LPs-oh, and while I’m on this, don’t forget that Record Store Day is coming, April 12.
