Japanese HiFi Music Store Expands to the U.S, U.K., and Germany

Hifi audio is the “next big thing”, with multiple companies trying to take hold of the market. This is true both on the streaming audio side and on the digital storefront side, with companies like Tidal, WiMP, and Pono. But how many consumers care about high resolution audio? Is it just a niche market? That remains to be seen…

Onkyo Music is the latest company to bank on widespread adoption of high res music. The company is expanding their Japanese high resolution digital audio store, which has been around since 2005.  They’ve partnered with 7digital to expand to the U.S., U.K., and Germany. They plan to expand further in the near future.<!–/*
* The backup image section of this tag has been generated for use on a
* non-SSL page. If this tag is to be placed on an SSL page, change the
*   ‘http://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/…’
* to
*   ‘https://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/…’
*
* This noscript section of this tag only shows image banners. There
* is no width or height in these banners, so if you want these tags to
* allocate space for the ad before it shows, you will need to add this
* information to the tag.
*
* If you do not want to deal with the intricities of the noscript
* section, delete the tag (from … to ). On
* average, the noscript tag is called from less than 1% of internet
* users.
*/–>

// <![CDATA[
var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/r9.php':'http://72.52.81.231/revive/www/delivery/r9.php');
   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);
   if (!document.MAX_used) document.MAX_used = ',';
   document.write ("”);
// ]]>Onkyo Music sells FLAC files, the majority of which “have a bit depth of 24-bit and a sample rate of 96kHz”, although some releases have a sample rate of 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, or 192kHz.

The service is in beta on the web, and is also offered through iOS and Android apps. Albums are $15-$20 and tracks are around $1.29 – $1.99.

Onkyo, Onkyo Music’s parent company, makes a variety of high res audio products.

Nina Ulloa covers breaking news, tech, and more. Follow her on Twitter: @nine_u

The post Japanese HiFi Music Store Expands to the U.S, U.K., and Germany appeared first on Digital Music News.

Source: Industry News