In a sea of AI music slop, can streaming service Qobuz cut through?
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Last week, the French streaming service Qobuz won for Independent Champion at the Libera Awards in New York.It’s kind of a mini-Grammys strictly for independent artists and the infrastructure supporting them (other winners included Geese and Hayley Williams).“It was a nice validation of our strategy to be the music service that we as music freaks would like to see,” said Dan Mackta, Qobuz’s managing director for North America.
“Indie labels have started to see more revenue coming through from Qobuz.We’re actually on the board now.”In an era when streamers are deluged with AI slop, and artists cut ties over corporate titans’ investments, Qobuz found a sweet spot for an emerging streamer.
It’s big enough to drive real revenue (its per stream payout averaged US$0.01873 as of 2025, well above Spotify and Apple).But it’s still built like a tasteful record store with hi-res audio and downloads, no ad tier, and a glossy music magazine championing outsider acts.The company, founded in 2007, saw striking growth last year — a 45.7% revenue increase in 2025.
It could break out as the Spotify alternative for serious music fans reconsidering their culture dollars.The Times spoke to Mackta about competing with the streaming giants, how to deal with AI slop and the best ways to get cash in artists’ hands.Last year’s growth was pretty remarkable, given that everyone that wants a streaming service probably has one.
Where is that growth coming from? I think the growth over the last year has been people who are switching.Until recently, people who were doing music streaming had a service and were sticking with it.
No one was really thinking about changing.Digital Media Association released their new report that 95% of people who subscribe to streaming were happy with their service.
But the idea that you can switch, you may want to switch, there may be reasons to switch...