Pentatone's Primephonic Closes Stereo & Surround Sound Music Downloads Site, Plans Classical Music Streaming 2.0 Program

[bmoura]

Pentatone's Primephonic downloads site, which carried Stereo and Surround Sound DSD and FLAC downloads, has been closed.

In its place, Primephonic will be offering version 2.0 of a "CD Quality" Stereo Classical Music Streaming service.
It will initially be available in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Later on, Primephonic plans to provide their Streaming 2.0 service to listeners worldwide.

 

[humprof]

Pentatone's Primephonic downloads site, which carried Stereo and Surround Sound DSD and FLAC downloads, has been closed.

In its place, Primephonic will be offering version 2.0 of a "CD Quality" Stereo Classical Music Streaming service.
It will initially be available in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Later on, Primephonic plans to provide their Streaming 2.0 service to listeners worldwide.

I wondered what was going on. I bought downloads from Primephonic once or twice, and the other day, when I went to log in to check my account history, I was met with an unfamiliar site...

 

[bmoura]

I wondered what was going on. I bought downloads from Primephonic once or twice, and the other day, when I went to log in to check my account history, I was met with an unfamiliar site...

I bought a few downloads from Primephonic some time ago.
I had read about their prior "Classical Streaming 1.0" program but never tried it.

Time will tell how their decision to go with Classical Music streaming only vs. downloads or downloads + streaming goes.

 

[humprof]

I bought a few downloads from Primephonic some time ago.
I had read about their prior "Classical Streaming 1.0" program but never tried it.

Time will tell how their decision to go with Classical Music streaming only vs. downloads or downloads + streaming goes.

Yeah...not interested in streaming, me. They were the exclusive vendor for the 5.1 version of John Luther Adams's Canticles of the Holy Wind and the hi-res version of Michael Gordon's Natural History. I wonder who, if anyone, Cantaloupe will license those recordings to now? Bandcamp sells hi-res (awkwardly), but is still not set up to distribute MCh.

 

[4-earredwonder]

The real question. How much longer will Pentatone be releasing physical SACDs? I mentioned that Presto Classical was blowing out the Pentatone SACDs for $8.75 and if they could afford to sell them at THAT price, imagine what the wholesale price was from Pentatone......maybe $6. Can't get rich at that ridiculously thin profit margin.

 

[bmoura]

The real question. How much longer will Pentatone be releasing physical SACDs? I mentioned that Presto Classical was blowing out the Pentatone SACDs for $8.75 and if they could afford to sell them at THAT price, imagine what the wholesale price was from Pentatone......maybe $6. Can't get rich at that ridiculously thin profit margin.

I haven't heard any rumblings that Pentatone plans to stop making/selling SACDs.
But it's always a possibility in light of labels like Harmonia Mundi and others dropping SACDs partially or completely in recent times.

And they didn't give any hints that the Primephonic downloads site was about to close.
Time will tell.