A while ago I purchased some albums on Qobuz I recently went to save then to my Nas drive only to be told that I can no longer download the albums. The albums in question are Pink Floyd. If I purchase them again I will be able to download them. How is this legal. I bought them not streamed them it’s like buying the CD and some bloke can come and take them away from you surely that’s theft. Anyway round this.
I buy from Qobuz on a regular basis and must have downloaded thousands of albums.
I always download them straightaway but if I had to go back and re-download them I bet about half or less won’t be available.
Qobuz don’t hold the licence on their downloads forever and that box you tick when you buy covering terms and conditions - that’s how it is legal.
Problem lies with the owner of the publishing rights. They often withdraw earlier published albums from streaming only to replace the albums by other versions (mostly remastered).
That’s why Qobuz also places a remark in the confirmation of your purchase stating that you should download the purchase right away.
If you don’t you don’t actually get the file in your possession, it remains in the ecosystem of Qobuz and not in a place that is yours (hard disk, USB-stick, cloud service account, whatever).
And when the publisher decides to withdraw the version that you paid for it is then gone.
It is a strategy/business model that all streaming services have to deal with, and downsides of that become very clear with Qobuz purchases.
And indeed, the conditions under which you purchase the items free Qobuz from liability. If they should keep the files available for download after the publisher withdraws them they would be breaking the law themselves.
Thank you for clearing that up…Still think it’s theft. how about they give me a free download on the new one.
You may want to reach out to them and ask them if they would be willing to give you some kind of compensation or give you other download versions of the albums as you suggest.
I received an email from Qobuz on September 24th of last year on this matter in which they explained that they had to update the Terms and Conditions because of the legal issues.
Don’t know if you have received that as well, but if not you may have a better case towards Qobuz.
Thank you for that I think it’s back to good ole CD for me. Just use the streaming service for listening. No more downloads for me.
From The Qobuz Site. Buy your favourite albums in CD or Hi-Res quality and enjoy them forever. Obviously not true
That’s right and if it wasn’t for Qobuz we wouldn’t have access to a wide range of music. I am enjoying all the thousands I have bought over the years.
I find it incredible that someone would buy downloads from Qobuz and not download them. Why would you do that?
you are correct but my hard drive went bang and my back up was stolen along with some hi fi by some scumbag
No off site backup then ?
unfortunately not. Lesson learned. Still have my vinyl and CDs so not a complete disaster just time re ripping. could be worse re ripping begins…kin hell
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It will still be true. Just not in the way you have interpreted.
I’d thought we’d all learnt about business by now?
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