Rhapsody and Sony Music bring HiRes streaming to Japan using Rhapsody’s ‘Powered by Napster’ platform. The new on demand music service christened ‘mora qualitas’ brings lossless FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files at 24bit/44.1-96khz (HiRes) and 16bit/44.1khz (CD quality) music streaming to Japan for the first time.
Rhapsody International is providing its complete ‘Powered By Napster’ platform including a unique set of systems, tools and APIs to allow Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) to quickly launch and bring its on-demand service to market.
“Our partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Japan offers the ultimate experience for audio enthusiasts in Japan as they no longer have to choose between a streaming service and high quality audio. With mora qualitas, fans can now have both for the very first time,” said Brian Ringer, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific Region of Rhapsody. “We are committed to accelerating the growth of streaming on a global scale by helping new services like mora qualitas launch quickly as well as enhancing existing services.”
“There is a lot of momentum happening in streaming and it’s going to keep getting better for consumers and artists with the introduction of mora qualitas, our new global on-demand audio service,” said Shigeki Tanaka, Senior Vice President of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. “Napster‘s deep expertise in high resolution audio streaming and industry experience made them the clear choice to partner with us in launching Japan’s new premier service.”
Subscriptions to mora qualitas cost 1,980 Yen a month and is available for Windows and Macintosh desktop users initially with other platforms to follow.
The mora qualitas service will be the first HiRes streaming service in Japan as neither TIDAL or Qobuz currently offer their HiRes service there.
Rhapsody International is a leading provider of music streaming technologies and services for businesses operating the Napster platform in 34 countries with a premium subscription service giving its subscribers unlimited ad-free access to music on any device – online or offline.
