Universal, Warner to Remaster 'Thousands' of Songs for Hi-Res in Amazon Partnership
Amazon raised the bar for music streaming Friday, announcing a partnership with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to remaster “thousands” of songs and albums in 24-bit with sampling rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz, what Amazon calls Ultra HD. Amazon cited songs from artists including the Eagles, Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Diana Ross, Linkin Park, J. Cole, Waylon Jennings, the Ramones, 2 Chainz, Lady Gaga, The Notorious B.I.G., Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez as among those that have been remastered “to the highest quality streaming audio.” They are available exclusively on Amazon Music HD, Amazon said, and all titles resulting from the partnership will be delivered in 24-bit and 96 kHz or 192 kHz. Amazon Music HD subscriptions are $12.99 monthly for Prime Members, $14.99 non-Prime.
David Solomon, chief high-res music evangelist at the streaming service Qobuz, messaged us that he was told by Warner Music that none of the material being remastered in 24-bit is exclusive to Amazon. Qobuz doesn’t support Dolby Atmos Music or Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, “so that wouldn’t have any bearing on what we’re doing now,” Solomon said. He called the Amazon news “a bit misleading at best.” Warner and Universal couldn’t be reached for comment. Amazon didn't respond.
The partnership builds on a promise to deliver the best possible recordings available for streaming "by upgrading existing recordings to make the listening experience even better, and preserving artistic legacy for future generations,” said Amazon Music Vice President Steve Boom in a statement. The partnership delivers “key recordings” from Universal and Warner catalogs, “exclusively for Amazon Music customers.” Amazon plans to work with other labels to upgrade the digital quality of more audio recordings and “provide customers with all of the emotion, power, clarity, and nuance of original recordings across all genres,” said Boom.
Amazon Music HD and 3D audio played on the Echo Studio let music lovers “immerse themselves in the original recordings at an unprecedented level of fidelity for a price that had previously been out of range,” said Kevin Gore, Warner Music Group president-global catalog, recorded music, in a statement.
In addition to Ultra HD remasters, select albums and songs will be remixed in 3D audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA, which listeners can hear in “immersive audio” via Amazon Music HD on Echo Studio. 3D music is currently available only with an Amazon Music HD subscription, says Amazon’s website. Scheduled for streaming soon in 3D are Tom Petty’s Wildflowers & All the Rest; the Eagles’ Live From The Forum MMXVIII; Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory; the Ramones’ eponymous debut album; Lady Gaga’s Chromatica; Post Malone’s Hollywood's Bleeding; and Selena Gomez’s Rare, Amazon said.
Amazon launched the $199 Studio last fall (see 1909300022), calling it the “best-sounding Echo ever.” It remains so after Amazon’s fall hardware launch last month, when the company refreshed the Echo ($99) smart speaker, giving it a smart-home spin with an integrated hub supporting Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy and Amazon Sidewalk. Though not high-res, the new Echo has updated sound: a 3-inch woofer, dual-firing tweeters and Dolby processing for stereo sound. Like the Studio, the entry Echo will automatically sense the acoustics of a room to tune audio playback.
Amazon Music HD subscribers can stream 5 million songs in Ultra HD and more than 60 million lossless high-definition songs at CD quality, 16-bit/44.1kHz. In addition, Amazon’s growing catalog of 3D audio “turns stereo songs into a multidimensional audio experience, adding space, clarity, and depth,” says the Amazon website, referencing over 1,000 tracks mastered in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA codecs.
High-res audio is the next battleground in the streaming music space. Amazon joined niche streaming services Qobuz and Tidal when it launched Amazon Music HD. Apple Music and Spotify didn’t respond to questions about their plans for streaming high-res music. Sonos’ new S2 platform supports high-res, though the company hasn’t delivered a high-res audio speaker. Amazon Music HD is available on Sonos today at up to CD-quality 16-bit audio. “With the launch of the S2 app earlier this year, we'll enable higher resolution audio technologies in the future,” a spokesperson emailed Friday, saying Sonos is “constantly working with our partners on new experiences for customers.”