Content is king and what has made Lenbrook’s BluOS so successful going back to its launch has been access to all of the major music streaming platforms; or the vast majority of them up until this point.
Their recent acquisition of MQA has fueled some speculation that Lenbrook might be working on its own streaming platform.
Did the Canadian owner of NAD, PSB, and Bluesound decide that watching the streaming codec vanish after investing so much time and money into it for its own extensive lineup of streaming components and loudspeakers was too bitter of a pill to swallow?
With TIDAL moving away from MQA and selecting FLAC for its hi-res files, what is the long term plan for Lenbrook if no other streaming platform decides to us it?
Why would any hardware manufacturers continue to pay the licensing fee for MQA if there is no streaming platform that will be offering it?
Something is afoot.
With that in mind, Lenbrook has annouced that BluOS will begin supporting Pandora and Presto Music.
Presto Music is new to us and we are wondering if this could be another acquisition target for Lenrbook to be used as the basis for an MQA-encoded platform.
Starting today, both Pandora and Presto Music will be accessible as natively integrated services in key markets, adding to the broad choice of streaming options that BluOS users already have with dozens of supported services that add to the variety of enriched and personalized audio experiences possible within the BluOS platform.
Pandora, one of the true original music streaming pioneers and available exclusively in the United States, is renowned for its exceptional music discovery features and expert curated radio stations. Its integration offers BluOS music listeners access to another seamless and intuitive way to enjoy their favorite tracks and discover new music based on listeners’ tastes.
BluOS users in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, can enjoy Presto Music, one of the world’s leading authorities on classical and jazz recordings.
Their recently launched streaming service lets subscribers directly access Presto’s vast library of high-quality music via the BluOS Controller app.
Their focused, extensive, and growing catalog includes 200,000 albums in CD-quality and 34,000 albums in 24-bit/192kHz.
Presto Music subscribers will also enjoy a powerful search engine designed for classical and jazz music with rich composer, artist and genre profiles including recommendations and featured releases.
“We are truly excited to bring Pandora and Presto Music to BluOS, further expanding our commitment to offering users the freedom to choose their preferred streaming services and at the highest quality,” said Andrew Haines, Product Manager at BluOS. “Pandora has been a long asked-for service addition with its unique history and strength in music discovery. While Presto Music is new, we are especially optimistic that niche music services with high-quality content are perfectly matched to the discerning audiences that BluOS and its premium audio integration partners serve.”
Beginning today, BluOS users can listen to Pandora and Presto Music by simply updating to the latest firmware and BluOS Controller App (version 4.2.0), available in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and at bluos.io/downloads.
ORT
November 8, 2023 at 11:44 pm
I have had a paid sub to Pandora for well over a decade now. It is excellent. I think well of it, enough so that I now have several family members on the Family Plan.
SiriusXM at one time owned, I think, 10% of Pandora and a couple of years back bought it outright. I also have SiriusXM and have several subs with them including a lifetime subscription. I also have a Family Plan with Prime Music UHD.
I may look into Presto if ever it becomes available natively on HEOS or Grace Digital. And of course via CarPlay and Android Auto.
“Presto” is the Italian word for “soon” (think of when a magicians says, “Presto!”), so perhaps that might happen soon. I like Jazz. Traditional Jazz and Jazz vocals with a couple of caveats two of which are the main biggies: I hate “scat” (aptly named) singing. I also loathe it when musicians just blow random notes. I just use a variation on “scat” to describe that noise.
Even more than those two dislikes I despise MQA and its false premise or is that “promise”?
Hah! I bet some here thought I could not tie it all together! Let us hope for the sake of Presto that this Blue Widow isn’t knitting a noose around their neck.
Master Quisling Assurance. Indeed.
And “ort” is German for “location”. Who gnu?
LOCATION