Qobuz Wins 1-Week Switch With 100% Human Curation as User Drops Spotify and Tidal
Updated
Updated · Android Police · May 18
Qobuz Wins 1-Week Switch With 100% Human Curation as User Drops Spotify and Tidal
2 articles · Updated · Android Police · May 18
After one week on Qobuz, the reviewer said the service beat Spotify and edged out Tidal enough to become their new default music app.
A January Qobuz post drove the switch by pledging 100% human editorial curation, exclusion of AI-generated music and a ban on AI crawlers scraping its catalog.
Qobuz also matched Tidal on audio quality—up to 24-bit/192 kHz—and imported the user’s full library for free via Soundiiz; its annual plan works out to $10.83 a month versus Tidal’s $10.99 monthly price.
The app still has drawbacks: no built-in lyrics, clunky playlist management, a discovery-heavy home page that may not suit all listeners, and issues with Google Home speakers.
The move reflects broader frustration with Spotify’s AI-heavy features, podcast focus, pricing and weaker audio quality, while Qobuz positions itself as a more music-first alternative.
As AI floods platforms with millions of fake songs, can human-curated music services survive against giants like Spotify?
With AI cloning voices and stealing millions in royalties, is the era of the professional human musician coming to an end?