Audio Video News

MQA Inks Global Deal with Warner Music Group

SV Staff  |  May 6, 2016

Warner Music Group (WMG) today announced a long-term global licensing deal with MQA, the company’s first deal with a major music company.

The companies said the agreement will significantly increase music fans’ access to high-resolution music globally by making recordings from WMG’s diverse roster of artists available in studio master quality through MQA distributors.

The concept behind MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology is to deliver audio at a quality level equal to a studio master recording but in a file small enough to stream or download. “By delivering the sound of the studio masters from WMG’s iconic labels, MQA will enable the listener to step into the magic of the artists’ original performances,” the company said in a press release.

MQA-encoded music is currently available via High Res Audio, Onkyo Music, e-Onkyo, 7digital, 2L, and Technics Tracks.

MQA is planning to expand to more streaming platforms and into download stores worldwide in the coming months.

“This collaboration is a giant step forward for MQA and music fans everywhere,” said Bob Stuart, MQA founder and inventor of the technology. “We have been working tirelessly to ensure labels, studios, artists, services, and playback partners understand the potential of our technology and the responses have been overwhelming.

“MQA is about bringing the most authentic sound to music lovers all over the world and WMG is our first major partner to help drive this mission forward.”

Craig Kallman, chairman and CEO of WMG’s Atlantic Records division, noted: “The digital music era has been all about convenience. It is fantastic that we can listen to virtually any song, anywhere, any time. In that process, however, convenience has trumped sound quality, and we have gotten further away from the sound that artists work so hard to create. MQA makes hi-resolution music easy to stream or download to any device. Music fans will love it when they hear it, and WMG is thrilled to be partnering with MQA to take the next step in bringing hi-resolution music to consumers across the globe.”

Related:

For more detail on MQA technology and the man behind it, see our recent interview with Bob Stuart, co-founder of England’s Meridian Group:
“Audio Statesman: Meridian Founder Bob Stuart.”

MQA Inks Global Deal with Warner Music Group

Meridian Announces MQA Firmware Update

MQA Update Now Available for Pioneer and Onkyo Portable Music Players

COMMENTS
brenro's picture
Submitted by brenro on May 6, 2016 - 7:42am

I've read article after article on MQA and it has certainly piqued my interest. However, outside of some rather obscure Norwegian classical music there hasn't been much available to make me want to purchase a device that can decode it. It's been over a year since Tidal announced they were going to stream MQA. Where is it? This article, finally, sounds like a step in the right direction.

thehun's picture
Submitted by thehun on May 7, 2016 - 1:24am

But for home reproduction this is another BS unnecessary codec that once again requires a proprietary DAC just to hear the same recording that can be heard on free encodes like PCM or FLAC with the same quality. Since MLP was a failure[not counting Dolby THD] Stuart needed a new possible cashcow.

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