French streaming service Qobuz has bought e-onkyo music, a hi-res music download service previously owned by Japanese hi-fi manufacturer Onkyo.
Xandrie SA, Qobuz's parent company, now owns 85.1 per cent of the shares in Xandrie Japan Co Ltd (into which Onkyo transferred its assets of e-onkyo music), while Onkyo retains 14.9 per cent. Onkyo, which recently sold its AV division to VOXX (the owner of Klipsch), intends to "focus on its core business" as part of "a plan to restructure its activities".
Qobuz already offers both hi-res music streaming and downloads, with its best-of-both-worlds Studio Sublime tier offering hi-res streams and discounts on download purchases for £15 ($15) per month. But the acquisition of e-onkyo music will allow the service to broaden its offering of hi-res music by providing local content such as J-Pop.
Qobuz has a library of over 70 million tracks and nearly half a million pieces of editorial content.
It has been on something of an international push of late. In April, it expanded into the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, plus Australia and New Zealand. It promises that more international launches "should materialise in the coming months".
It also recently launched personalised playlists and CarPlay online features.
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