- Qobuz’s mobile app audience reportedly grew by 202% (US) or 105% (UK), from 2024 to 2025
- The music platform ranked #3 in the UK and #2 in the US for Media & Entertainment
- It’s been recognized as a Digital 100 winner by data firm Similarweb as a result
As music lovers look to embrace more analog in 2026 (and competitor Spotify continues to receive ‘Slopify’ criticism for AI music infestation on its site) Qobuz is seemingly thriving – to the point that it has been recognized an annual Digital 100 winner by web analytics expert Similarweb for its huge growth. These awards give flowers to the companies that showed the most significant digital growth in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, India, and Brazil their flowers.
The original hi-res music streaming service and independently-owned music download platform ranked #3 among the fastest growing companies in Media & Entertainment for the UK, and #2 for Media & Entertainment in the US.
Similarweb’s Sixth Annual Digital 100 Report also states that Qobuz grew the audience for its mobile app by 105% in the UK and 202% in the US from 2024 to 2025, based on the company’s independent estimates.
And while ChatGPT took the top spot in many countries (again), it’s a major win for the unique French music site that prefers to do things its own way – and strongly emphasizes human curation and passion, featuring expert-curated playlists and ‘Editor’s Picks’ for its recommended audio content.
Dan Mackta, a Managing Director at Qobuz, said “We’re delighted to be recognised as one of the fastest‑growing digital companies in both the UK and US in this year’s Similarweb Digital 100. Last year was a pivotal one for Qobuz, highlighted by the launch and strong adoption of Qobuz Connect, which has broadened how our listeners enjoy high‑resolution music across hi‑fi devices.”
Qobuz: time to make the switch?
Qobuz further solidified itself as the audiophiles’ service of choice by adding hi-res DSD and DXD downloads to its offering in October 2024. More recently, it announced a six-month, artists-first podcast collab with indie music mag, Drowned in Sound and added sensitive, helpful initiatives such as organizing its music catalog by record label (rather than via a ‘sounds similar’ algorithm) to help me find new bands I love and help Qobuz earn its place in my music-loving heart.
Does Qobuz care for accolades? Well, winners do not apply for or lobby for these awards. Similarweb’s ranking is powered by its own “rigorous analysis of billions of digital signals across more than 100 million companies”. The Digital 100 ranks web domains and mobile apps based on their performance over 12 months, versus the previous 12 months.
I’m glad that Qobuz is gaining traction as a viable music app alternative to Spotify, because for me, there’s also a much more human win to celebrate here.
Spotify isn’t alone in receiving accusations of pushing AI slop on its listeners – YouTube Music users feel it’s also happening to them. And while Spotify seems to be hoping loyal fans to look the other way on ethical music issues – see its recent bid to win over Audible fans with a big audiobook upgrade – Qobuz doubled down on its support for artists last year by publishing how much it actually pays per stream.
At just over 1.8¢, this rate has not only been verified as the highest pay-per-stream fee in the industry, Qobuz also claims it’s “four times the industry average.”
And that’s before we even touch on how former Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s reported investments in AI military company Helsing caused acts such as Massive Attack to remove their entire catalog from the platform.
Time to make the switch? The figures suggest it’s already happening. Smartphone owners are letting their devices do the talking.
The best music players for all budgets
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becky.scarrott@futurenet.com (Becky Scarrott)
