doogie44 Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 I suppose the only recourse now is to beg Qobuz to open up to Australia! I can't understand their commercial reticence, since the Oz market is relatively small, and they have already set up in the US--so it can't be a matter of digital storage or wotever... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, doogie44 said: I can't understand their commercial reticence They need to get both licenses to sell the content into the Australian market.... and they need to buy the network bandwidth to deliver the content to you when you click "go". Neither of these are necessarily cheap or easy .... and as you say, the market is very small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 I buy French wine--can't they make an exception for me?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffen Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Negotiating license fees with the multitude of local rights holders (which are of course different from the rights holders in other countries) is going to be the biggie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted July 17, 2020 Administrator Share Posted July 17, 2020 I think it will happen at some point. We had to wait for TIDAL, Pandora, Spotify, etc that were available in other countries long before Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted July 17, 2020 Volunteer Share Posted July 17, 2020 34 minutes ago, Marc said: I think it will happen at some point. We had to wait for TIDAL, Pandora, Spotify, etc that were available in other countries long before Australia. Pandora was available in Australia. Hasn't been available for a few years now - pity really I as I felt it was the best of the lot for introducing me to new music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted July 17, 2020 Administrator Share Posted July 17, 2020 Not the point I guess but, Pandora wasn't here for a long time, before it was. I loved its radio function and yes I did discover a lot of new music that way. It even had quite a lot of native hardware integration, but lacked the marketing budget of Spotify once it launched in Australia. Ultimately I guess those licensing fees we are talking about didn't outweigh the small (by comparison) number of Australian subscribers. I knew the person that headed up Pandora in AU, and to me it/he lacked the commercialisation knowledge to make the platform successful in Australia. I'm taking us off topic now. C'mon Qobuz ... we're ready, willing and able, with cash in hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted July 17, 2020 Volunteer Share Posted July 17, 2020 15 minutes ago, Marc said: Not the point I guess but, Pandora wasn't here for a long time, before it was. I loved its radio function and yes I did discover a lot of new music that way. It even had quite a lot of native hardware integration, but lacked the marketing budget of Spotify once it launched in Australia. Ultimately I guess those licensing fees we are talking about didn't outweigh the small (by comparison) number of Australian subscribers. I knew the person that headed up Pandora in AU, and to me it/he lacked the commercialisation knowledge to make the platform successful in Australia. I'm taking us off topic now. C'mon Qobuz ... we're ready, willing and able, with cash in hand! I remember listening to a talk that the Australian CEO of Pandora gave to us at work (back when I worked at CBA). She discussed innovation and tech and I was super impressed with what they were doing and how the company was created primarily by lovers of music. Anyway, back on topic.. .I'd certainly give Qoboz a go if they landed here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagejapan Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I think it will happen sooner than later. Already some albums I cannot stream on Qobuz, due to licencing I guess, but if the same album is in high-res is available. I mean where else you can buy a 192/24 song in Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 Frustrating I must say. I am keen to try the Qobuz offering but all attempts at paying up haven’t worked so far, much like many of the reports in the thread. I have noticed that a Discover Card is listed as a payment option. This seems to be some form of virtual card, has anyone tried this or have any experience with this card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Discover needs your social security number, so that's not gong to work Certainly frustrating as I said. I can listen to snippets of Qobuz albums (maybe 15 sec of each track) and I like what I hear, would probably ditch Tidal for Qobuz in fact if I could only sign up and get them to ... take my money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deafenears Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Sign up to PayPal via a US VPN with a US address (parcel forwarding works), then sign up to Qobuz and use that PayPal account for payments. Works for me, happy Qobuz user here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 @deafenears Hmm, nice idea, but I suspect that route is now blocked as as you appear to need a US mobile number to confirm your account via return sms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 1 hour ago, deafenears said: Sign up to PayPal via a US VPN with a US address (parcel forwarding works), then sign up to Qobuz and use that PayPal account for payments. Works for me, happy Qobuz user here. May I ask whether you did this within the last year? Everything seems to have changed regarding payment in that time; Paypal that way might seem to be ideal BUT Qobuz requires a credit card (which would be your Aussie one) linked to that Paypal account. Even if you never use the card to pay within Paypal. Thus you are found out immediately by Qobuz unless it's a US credit card...which it is not. Back to the drawing board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deafenears Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 47 minutes ago, doogie44 said: May I ask whether you did this within the last year? Everything seems to have changed regarding payment in that time; Paypal that way might seem to be ideal BUT Qobuz requires a credit card (which would be your Aussie one) linked to that Paypal account. Even if you never use the card to pay within Paypal. Thus you are found out immediately by Qobuz unless it's a US credit card...which it is not. Back to the drawing board. Yes, April 23rd to be exact, was when I signed up to Qobuz. Straight after they reversed the decision to disable payments via PayPal. But I've always had a U.S. PayPal account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deafenears Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 PayPal doesn't pass on CC info to the merchant but rather if your PayPal account is a U.S. one or AUS, IIUC. I have two, one all transactions are in USD. Also, you can use travel SIM services such as Truphone if you needed a U.S. mobile number for SMS verification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demondes Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Can you just have credit in your US PayPal account and then it wouldn’t need to draw from the CC. I would be surprised if PayPal would forward on CC details to a vendor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 4 hours ago, deafenears said: Yes, April 23rd to be exact, was when I signed up to Qobuz. Straight after they reversed the decision to disable payments via PayPal. But I've always had a U.S. PayPal account. Well, I suggest the US PayPal account is the key here. You are “local”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 OK, filled with 'new hope' I started from scratch in the hope of setting up a paying QOBUZ account. New e-mail account; new Paypal account, already registered on QOBUZ as a US address after my last weeks of efforts (but bounced for payment after submitting my Paypal details)... In short, another 2 hours wasted--and an epic fail. There's something about the Paypal business if you are not a US citizen that guarantees failure with QOBUZ. I just don't understand what I am doing wrong and would dearly love to do it right! It must be a matter of some digital/virtual screen to overcome? Here is what I would like to see at some time: Somebody--anybody--from Oz who does NOT have a US credit card, or US Paypal A/C, or QOBUZ A/C, or US mobile, go through the steps of setting up a functioning QOBUZ account (any payment method). Then if that person would be kind enough to write down those steps for me in simple language I could duplicate them. I am willing to wager--despite posts to the contrary-- that this is currently NOT possible. There seem to be quite a few posters who imply how straightforward it is but I cannot agree. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjs Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, doogie44 said: OK, filled with 'new hope' I started from scratch in the hope of setting up a paying QOBUZ account. New e-mail account; new Paypal account, already registered on QOBUZ as a US address after my last weeks of efforts (but bounced for payment after submitting my Paypal details)... In short, another 2 hours wasted--and an epic fail. There's something about the Paypal business if you are not a US citizen that guarantees failure with QOBUZ. I just don't understand what I am doing wrong and would dearly love to do it right! It must be a matter of some digital/virtual screen to overcome? Here is what I would like to see at some time: Somebody--anybody--from Oz who does NOT have a US credit card, or US Paypal A/C, or QOBUZ A/C, or US mobile, go through the steps of setting up a functioning QOBUZ account (any payment method). Then if that person would be kind enough to write down those steps for me in simple language I could duplicate them. I am willing to wager--despite posts to the contrary-- that this is currently NOT possible. There seem to be quite a few posters who imply how straightforward it is but I cannot agree. @doogie44 I assume when you say new Paypal a/c that its still an AU account, from my experience over the weekend, it seemed impossible to setup a US Paypal account without bona fide US mobile number and bank accounts (as it probably should be to protect against fraud etc). I have failed each time, because I think Qobuz can tell from either local credit cards or AU Paypal that you are not in the US or EU. I am pretty much resigned to waiting until they set up here. Edited August 17, 2020 by mjs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted August 17, 2020 Author Share Posted August 17, 2020 Yes, I cannot set up a US Paypal account--as you indicate. There are multiple ways to fail when attempting the US account path Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demondes Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Qobuz Uk and Us now have family plans, people could agree to share existing accounts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC. Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 For those people saying that they got it working, would you mind specifying how long ago that was. I tried the VPN route using CC and PayPal across US, UK, and EU about a month ago and they all got geo blocked. Im pretty sure Qobuz have now implemented enough geo blocking security to prevent new Aussie subscribers. if anyone has go this working in the past 6 weeks, then speak up please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogie44 Posted August 17, 2020 Author Share Posted August 17, 2020 Deafenears has messaged me the definitive methodology, step by step as requested, as far as he knows--even offered to link up personally and walk me through it! I love the Forum. Here it is (I haven't tried it yet): PASTE But for now, let's try get you going. For US phone number, I used a travel SIM that I had - Truphone. But it didn't ask for an SMS confirmation code at all. In fact, I just checked now and it's still saying not verified. Still, if it does require one now, a service such as Truphone might be what's needed (the travel SIM I bought a while back on a Qantas flight and have been using it abroad). https://www.truphone.com/ For US address, I put it a Shipito parcel forwarding service. Free sign up. https://www.shipito.com/ For credit card, I'm using just my local AU one. No issues here. So probably the issue is with address, putting in a US one? There's some things to try there. Let me explain the process of what I did to get it going and the ordering, which I think is important. - used a US endpoint / VPN and signed up with PayPal. I think this is important here as PayPal will either create a AU or US account based on where you're coming from. You can also tell which country your PayPal account is by the currency used - the US one, all transactions are in USD (even if purchasing stuff from AU). - for PayPal, sign up with a US-based address and enter a US phone number (which I think isn't required for verification and likely there is a step or button there to say skip verification for now). - don't put in a CC until the account is created. - once PayPal account created, log in and enter your AU CC. - using the same US endpoint / VPN, sign up to Qobuz. - link to PayPal. I think that's it. Easier to go through the steps face-to-face but bad timing with COVID. Hope this all helps and if it does, feel free to share it all with others on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbd Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 I have a US credit card and phone number, and have been able to sign up to Qobuz from Australia, via an initial VPN session to register. I've noticed that it looks like it's possible to buy Qobuz non-renewable 'gift subcriptions', so if someone is in need, and wants to experiment, I'm happy to try and help, so long as I'm not out of pocket - https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/offer-qobuz lists the 3/6/12 month options available. If someone wants to be the guinea pig, has got as far as registering an account, and is happy to pay the converted US$ amount to me for a code, let me know and we can see if it works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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