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Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
RIAA confirms which digital platforms are utilising the Hi-Res audio logo
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 16 November 2015
Good news everybody, Hi-Res audio now has a logo. That’ll do it right? Let’s bring on the Pono revolution I say. And if you think trying to squeeze more money out of consumers by flogging them audio at a higher quality, even though they probably can’t really hear the difference, all sounds a bit 1990s, well, that logo fits right in.
The logo was actually unveiled by the US record industry back in June, but last week trade groups the Recording Industry Association Of America and the Digital Entertainment Group announced a list of digital music sellers who will be using the Hi-Res Music mark on their websites and branding. And the list includes Acoustic Sounds Super HiRez, Blue Coast Music, ClassicsOnline HD*LL, IsoMike Recordings, ProStudioMasters, HDtracks, and, of course, PonoMusic.
Says RIAA CTO David Hughes: “We are gratified that the Hi-Res Music logo will be used as the standard branding measure of optimal quality music by digital retailers. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that music enthusiasts can more easily identify their highest quality preferences, and this is a key step in that process. We thank those that have adopted the Hi-Res Music logo, and encourage others in this space to follow suit, in order to help consumers enjoy the highest-quality digital recordings possible”.
In case you wondered, to use the Hi-Res logo on your download store or streaming platform you must be providing music in “lossless audio capable of reproducing the full spectrum of sound from recordings which have been mastered from better than CD quality (48kHz/20-bit or higher) music sources that represent what the artists, producers and engineers originally intended”.
The logo was initiated by the three major record companies, and will help consumers work out which online services really are offering audio at CD quality or higher. Which is particularly helpful given most people can’t really tell the difference between a 320kbps MP3 and a 48kHz/20-bit WAV. But now they don’t need to be able to hear the difference, because there’ll be a nice yellow logo to reassure them it’s there.
