In Q1 of 2020, North American users of BluOS Enabled products from NAD Electronics, Bluesound, and DALI Loudspeakers, will be prompted to update their players for the unique opportunity to sample Neil Young Archives’ song of the day and album of the week in full resolution, with a tap of a button in the BluOS Controller app. Users interested in subscribing to the full NYA service will be able to subscribe through the BluOS app. Existing subscribers of the Neil Young Archives can simply enter their credentials into BluOS to access the service.
In 2018, Canadian-born Young launched his Neil Young Archives, an ambitious project that models a novel way for artists who care totally about the quality of the content they so carefully create to also stream it to their fans without the damaging compression so prevalent in today’s mass market streaming music world. His website and app provides access to all of his audio, video, memorabilia, notes, lyrics, original manuscripts and news.
For decades, Young has been warning the music industry and music fans worldwide to take better care of recorded content from the past decades and to provide it in its fullest and least compressed form so that music lovers can hear all the music the artist intended for them. Young articulates this in his latest book, co-written with Phil Baker, “To Feel the Music.”
“I am happy to be able to offer this as a new benefit to NYA’s existing subscribers,” exclaimed Young. ”For the first time they’ll be able to stream all my archives’ audio content directly to equipment capable of playing it without adding any compression. I’m also excited that North American users of BluOS hardware can sample my archives by listening to the song of the day and album of the week. We share a passion with the Lenbrook team for delivering and making high res audio streaming easily accessible to music lovers in their homes, leading us to this new cooperation.”
In 2012, Ontario based Lenbrook International unveiled a completely new performance standard and user experience supporting high resolution 24/192 audio streaming layered with multi-room music capabilities. Such an innovative solution had never before been made commercially available and the Bluesound brand, with its BluOS operating system, a collaborative effort between Lenbrook’s software development team and the world-renowned amplifier and acoustics teams from NAD Electronics and PSB Speakers has since garnered praise from music enthusiasts globally.
“The BluOS operating system has become a standard in the audiophile world as a result of an unwavering commitment to care about what the high-resolution audio listening experience can offer music lovers,” explains Lenbrook’s CEO, Gordon Simmonds. “Along with our brands Bluesound, NAD Electronics and PSB Speakers, we have opened this platform up to other global premium audio brands like DALI Loudspeakers (Denmark) and Monitor Audio (UK). All of these brands are part of an open ecosystem that offers a wide array of audio solutions to the music lovers that truly care. We are thrilled to be realizing this shared vision with Neil and his team and this new level of collaboration announced today.”
Model of streaming integrations to come?
Beyond just the technical integration, the agreement also demonstrates how a content creator and a home audio equipment provider can collaborate and model an effective and simple solution for music lovers to access and enjoy a unique and fully high-resolution streaming experience. As musical artists take greater control over their life’s work, often bypassing traditional music distribution channels to reach their fans more directly, this agreement could represent a novel avenue for artists to gain better control over their work and their earnings.
The Neil Young Archives (neilyoungarchives.com), described as a “Revolution in fandom” by The Guardian, is a website and app where fans have access to Neil Young’s audio, video, memorabilia, notes, lyrics, original manuscripts and an eight-page newspaper. It’s where Neil is continually adding new content and where his fans and he communicate with each other. It went live a little over a year ago and has tens of thousands of paid members. A subscription cost $19.99 per year.Neil Young Archives on BluOS will be demonstrated at CES 2020 at the Venetian Hotel, in the Lenbrook suite, #29-140.
www.neilyoungarchives.com
www.bluos.net | www.lenbrook.com
