When Dan Mackta, Qobuz’s New York–based managing director, was looking for musicians to endorse the music streaming service after its US launch in 2019, he tapped up a friend—the manager of the Flaming Lips. The pandemic-era promo video, shot by frontman Wayne Coyne himself, highlighted the first question users ask: "How to pronounce this weird word 'ko-buzz.'" The second question is whether they can transfer their music library. According to Mackta, a third-party service called Soundizz allows porting with a more than 90 percent hit rate for playlists.
Subscriber Growth and Revenue Surge
Qobuz, founded 19 years ago in France, had around 500,000 subscribers just a year ago. By mid-2025, it reached 1.2 million active monthly users, and its streaming revenue shot up 45.7 percent in 2025, compared to 8.8 percent growth in overall paid music streaming. Around a third of its revenue now comes from the US, its biggest market. The growth was fueled by several events: Liz Pelly’s January 2025 book Mood Machine criticizing Spotify’s business practices, and viral posts in October 2025 about ICE recruitment ads on Spotify’s free tier. “The day that story broke was our biggest day ever in the US,” Mackta said. The second best day was Spotify Wrapped in early December, as users sought alternatives. Qobuz attracted audiophiles, “conscious consumers” responding to boycotts like Death to Spotify and Indivisible, and K-pop superfans searching for high-quality downloads.
Despite this, Qobuz remains tiny compared to Spotify (293 million paid subscribers) and Apple Music (more than 100 million). “For us to say we're gonna compete with Apple or Amazon,” Mackta said, “we might as well say we're trying to launch a rocket.” Qobuz’s goal is to reach 1 percent of the paid streaming market. Under French CEO Denis Thébaud, it expects to reach profitability by March 2027.
Payout Model: Higher Per-Stream Rates
Qobuz has positioned itself as the artist-friendly alternative to Spotify. The company released an independently audited average per-stream payout in March 2025: $0.01873 per stream, or $18.73 per 1,000 streams. This is significantly higher than other services; the source notes that in multiple evaluations, Qobuz edges out rival hi-res service Tidal and, in some cases, pays five to six times as much as Spotify. “We knew we had the best number so we thought we’ll just lay it down,” Mackta said. This transparency has helped drive user adoption among artists and fans concerned about fair compensation.
| Streaming Service | Average Payout per Stream (from source) |
|---|---|
| Qobuz | $0.01873 |
| Spotify | Unknown (but much lower, per artist anecdotes) |
| Tidal | Lower than Qobuz |
Competitive Context and Technology Offerings
Qobuz targets “people who already knew what hi-res music was” with its catalog of over 100 million lossless CD-quality and 24-bit tracks. Unlike Spotify’s compressed audio, Qobuz offers high-resolution streaming, appealing to audiophiles. The service does not have a free ad-supported tier; it is subscription-only. This business model aligns with its focus on quality over quantity.
The service also includes editorial content and curated playlists. Mackta, who came from major and indie record labels, underscores that Qobuz’s pitch is not just about audio quality but about ethical consumption: “This is not a music company; music was just a means to an end,” he said of competitors. For enterprise technology buyers, Qobuz demonstrates a viable niche platform that leverages transparent pricing and higher-quality data (audio files) to differentiate in a market dominated by giants. While not directly trade-related, the platform’s use of independent auditing and high-fidelity digital delivery could inform strategies in other content or data delivery verticals.
For artists, the higher payout is a key differentiator. The source notes that Qobuz had popped up in posts by artists bemoaning being paid “a quarter of a cent per stream” on big platforms versus “a much higher number” on Qobuz. The company’s verified per-stream rate provides concrete evidence for marketers and creators evaluating distribution channels.
Qobuz’s growth trajectory—from 500,000 to 1.2 million users in a year, with 45.7% revenue growth—illustrates that there is demand for premium, ethically positioned streaming services. For technology leaders evaluating digital subscription models, Qobuz offers a case study in how to build a sustainable, niche platform that leverages transparency and quality to capture a loyal user base.
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