Streaming

Best Music Deals: Stream Smarter, Spend Less

Streaming has transformed the way we listen — and the way we pay for music. In this section, we explore how the leading services compare in sound quality, catalogue, and value. From FLAC‑based HiRes tiers to open‑source playback systems, we cover the tools, trends, and updates shaping the streaming landscape.
Our Best Music Streaming Deals series compares the prices and features of top music streaming services — including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Qobuz, and TIDAL — to help you choose what fits your budget and listening habits.

What are the best music streaming deals for couples?

12/01/2025

High Resolution Audio’s guide to getting the best couples deals for your musical entertainment. What are the best music streaming deals for couples? Deezer, Qobuz and Spotify have realised that not every one is a singleton or has a family and have come up with ‘Duo’ deals for couples. The pricing for these plans comes about half way between an individual and family subscription. In the UK there are roughly 15% more two person households […]

Free music from your local library

05/10/2024

There can’t be many of us who aren’t having to think about personal and household budgets in these difficult times following the COVID-19 pandemic and everything that has followed. So, here is a reminder that for many of us in the UK there is a wealth of free audio available usually only a short trip away from home or available online at your local library. Despite local authority cuts to library services in recent years […]

Qobuz Review

08/01/2022

History Qobuz was launched in 2008 and has achieved a series of notable firsts. In 2009 it offered the first CD quality download catalogue and in 2011 the first CD quality streaming service. It was the first online music service to adopt 24bit HiRes in its catalogue and in the summer of 2015, it launched HiRes Streaming with its Qobuz Sublime+ subscription. During the past few years Qobuz has positioned itself as a top end […]

Idagio Review

02/01/2022

History Launched in August 2015 the name ‘IDAGIO’ was formed from ‘I’ for tech start-ups, and ‘adagio’, the tempo marking in music that means ‘slowly, leisurely’ according to Till Janczukowicz, the services co-founder. In September 2018 the streamer claimed 250,000 registered users but the number of paying subscribers is unknown. IDAGIO has partnered with all the major classical music labels including Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon to provide classical music enthusiasts with access a wide […]

Streaming

Napster Review

30/12/2021

History Napster started out life as a peer to peer file trading service which was shut down for copyright violations. After bankruptcy and several owners it was bought by Rhapsody another streaming and download service in 2011. Rhapsody amalgamated the two services and rebranded as Napster. In August 2020 MelodyVR acquired Rhapsody and the Napster business and in February 2021 changed its name to Napster. The Napster streaming business has two divisions – consumer and […]

Streaming

Apple Music Review

14/12/2021

History Opened in 2015, Apple Music started as a download service using iTunes. Apple migrated its music service into a streaming model but was initially slow to support non-Apple devices. As the company becomes more dependent on services it has had to embrace competitor devices and support for non-Apple products has continued to improve and now most mainstream devices are supported. Apple announced that it had 60 million paid subscribers in June 2019 and revealed […]

Spotify Review

05/12/2021

History Launched in 2008 Spotify has 381 million active users with 172 million paying subscribers (as at Q3 2021) across 184 countries. Spotify has been the leader in the streaming field for some time and despite not having a CD Quality or HiRes service it has produced a service which has near ubiquitous availability across HiFi, mobile, PCs, tablets, smart TVs and speakers and In Car Entertainment (ICE) systems. That and its ease of use […]